Just my Luck
by Snowman23
Summary: The story of a quiet, shy shut-in named Claudia Mann, who is forced into a cold, brutal war after her home is destroyed. Does she have what it takes to become a Militia soldier and fight to regain a peaceful life. Maybe...if luck is on her side.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1- Tragic Beginnings**

The sun began to rise on the sleepy little Gallian city of Port Water. In a small house in the housing district of Port Water, Martha Mann was already up and about, preparing breakfast for her 2 children. And as Martha was laying out the dishes for her kids, Kathra Mann, the youngest was descending the staircase. Martha saw her and smiled.

"Morning sweetie." said Martha, Kathra smiled back, rubbing the sleepiness out of her eyes.

"Morning Mommy." said Kathra.

"Is your sister awake yet?." asked Martha.

Kathra shook her head, "Nope, Claudia's still out like a light."

"Well breakfast is almost ready, so would you mind waking her up." said Martha.

"You should of asked me that 10 minutes ago...you know how long it takes Claudia to get out of bed." joked Kathra.

"Oh come now, if your big sister really believes that doing all those little rituals of her will bring her luck then so be it." said Martha, finishing setting all 3 plates and utensils.

"Alright mother, I'll go and get her." said Kathra, climbing back up the stairs. She then proceeded down the hall and walked to her sisters' room at the end of the hall. She then knocked on the door and waited for a reply.

"hmmm..." said a very sleepy voice, Kathra then opened the door and peaked inside.

"You up sis??." asked Kathra, seeing her bigger sister laying face down on her pillow, her long, shoulder length black hair all strewn about.

"Whatdya want?." asked Claudia, rolling over on her side and looking at her sister, her black hair covering most of her face.

"Time for breakfast so get up...and get up fast before it gets cold...which it probably will knowing you." said Kathra, chuckling childishly before closing the door once again.

Claudia rolled on her back and stared up at the ceiling, "Is luck on my side today...I sure hope it is." thought Claudia, she then sighed, sat up and swung her legs over the side of her bed. She then planted her feet on the wooden floor of her bed room, but a sharp pain caused her to wince in pain. Lifting her feet up she saw that she had stepped on her hairbrush, which had somehow fallen off of her nightstand.

"Guess not..." thought Claudia, rubbing the bottoms of her feet.

Claudia then kicked the brush aside and walked over to her bedroom mirror and parted her hair down the middle with her hands. She combed on side with another hairbrush, getting the tangles out as she ran the brush through her long hair. Once her hair was tangle free she began to fold up her hair over and over again till it was in a little ball. She then took a little red piece of fabric and placed her folded up hair inside, she tied the little bag of hair tightly and did the same with the other side of her hair. Both parts of her hair were now inside the little red fabric bags.

"Now my hair won't get caught any doorways...or tree branches or fences." thought Claudia, she then opened a small red box sitting in front of her and took out her lucky red headband and tied it around her forehead. She quickly straightened out any stray pieces of hair, then got up and walked to her door.

But she made sure to spin around, to the left 7 times before she opened the door with her left hand and exited the room. Claudia was normally right handed but always made sure to open any doors with her left hand, as the shape of her index finger and thumb formed an L when held up, L for luck.

She then headed to the staircase and grabbed a firm hold of the hand railing before slowly proceeding down.

"1...2...3...4..." counted Claudia out loud, her mother and younger sister looking on, Kathra shook her head and grinned.

"6...7." said Claudia, pausing on the 7th step, before continuing on. She then neared the last 3 steps of the staircase. "11...12..." Claudia stopped on the 12th step, but jumped down to the ground, skipping the 13th and last step of the staircase.

"I'll never get used to that." said Kathra, giggling.

"Claudia...don't you think your getting alittle old to still be doing that." said Martha, putting some scrambled eggs into her mouth.

"I'll stop doing it when my luck changes for the better." said Claudia, walking over to the table and sitting down next to Kathra.

"I think luck doesn't like you because you always talk and complain about it so much." said Kathra, "Just try not thinking about it today, maybe if you don't think about it so much things will be different."

Claudia nodded as she poured herself a glass of Orange juice. "If only it were that easy." said Claudia

The family then finished up their breakfast, and Martha began to clear away the dished from the table.

"So, what are you two going to do today?." asked Martha, putting the dishes into the sink and turning on the water taps.

"I was thinking about going over to Janes' house, we were thinking of going fishing at the docks." said Kathra, swinging her little legs under the table from her chair.

"That sounds good sweetie." said Martha, opening up the window blinds infront of the sink, "The sun is shining, the birds are singing. It's far too beautiful a day to pass up."

"And you Claudia?."

Claudia sighed and looked down at the table, "I was thinking of just staying inside today, today just doesn't feel like a good day to go out." said Claudia softly.

"All you do is stay inside!." said Kathra, "Your starting to look like a ghost with how pale your becoming and I think it's about time you got that hair of yours cut."

"I agree with your sister." said Martha as she wiped her hands on a dish towel, "Your hair's getting very long, your skin is getting pale. Go out and get some sun and here...", Martha then reached into one of her red dress pockets and pulled out some coins. "Go down to the barber shop and get a trim."

Claudia sighed and nodded, "If you say so mother." said Claudia, holding out her right hand. But as she looked at her mothers hand she quickly pulled her own hand away just as Martha was about to dump the coins into her hand.

The coins then spilled onto the table, some rolling over the sides and along the floor. "OH CLAUDIA!!." shouted Martha.

Claudia looked down at the coins, then at her mother. "Mom...there were 13 coins in there." said Claudia.

Martha sighed and placed her hand against her forehead, "Fine...you don't want extra spending money then just take 10, that will pay for your haircut." said Martha, turning around and continuing to wash the dishes.

"I'm sorry mother..." said Claudia, bending down to retrieve the fallen coins from the floor.

"Just go and get showered and changed, if you hurry you can get in right away." said Martha.

Claudia finished picking up her 10 coins and headed upstairs, doing the same routine she did earlier, pausing on the 7th step and jumping the last step.

Once Claudia was showered and changed she headed back downstairs and stood in front of her front door. Being a shut-in most of the time, Claudia always felt really apprehensive about setting foot outside of her home.

She reached out with her left hand and placed it on the steel brass doorknob, "Here goes..." thought Claudia, turning the knob and opening the door. The bright sun blinded her for a moment, before everything came into focus. And as Claudia took the first few steps out of her house she gazed up at the clear blue sky and smiled.

It was indeed a beautiful day outside, birds flew through the sky, the locals were out and about, cars and trucks drove down the streets, their engines glowing a pretty blue color. Claudia closed her eyes momentarily as she walked down the sidewalk, just listening to the sound of her heeled boots clicking against the pavement.

"I always loved paved roads...except for when I trip." thought Claudia, she then opened her eyes once again and continued on down the street, after afew blocks she reached her destination, eyeing the red and white barber shop sign.

Claudia then reached up and ran her hand along the side of her head, feeling alittle bit unsure about cutting her long, beautiful hair. But short hair had it's advantages, for one thing she wouldn't have to worry about it getting tangled up in anything.

She then stood in the doorway of the barber shop and spotted old man Burt, the barber. He was sweeping the floor, but looked up and saw Claudia.

"Well hello there miss Claudia." said Burt, "It's been ages since I've last see you here."

"Yeah...my mother insisted that I get my hair cut today. She thinks it's getting too long." said Claudia

Burt looked at her but was unable to tell just how long her hair was, most her her hair being tied up in the little red bags on either side of her head.

Just then Claudia felt something hit the top of her head and she instinctively touched the top of her head and looked down at her hand...staring down at bird poop she let out a disgusted squeal.

"Oh dear..." said Burt, "But they say that's supposed to be good luck."

Claudias' eyes began to tear up, her lips forming a sad pout. Burt moved forward and placed his hands on top of Claudia's shoulders.

"Oh hey hey come on now. It's nothing to cry about...just come on in and we'll get you cleaned and trimmed up." said Burt, escorting Claudia into the shop and sitting her down at one of the sinks. He then untied her hair and let it flow out and into the sink, running warm water through her hair, adding shampoo and conditioner into it.

"I must say, this certainly is a beautiful head of hair you've got there...you should let it out as it is, not tie it up and keep it hidden." said Burt, finishing up washin Claudia's hair.

He then sat her up once more, wrapped a towel around her wet hair and moved her to the cutting chairs. He could see that Claudia was still alittle sad so he rubbing the towel quickly and hard through her hair before removing the towel, Claudia's hair bursting out all puffy and wild.

Burt laughed out loud, "Hahaha UH OH, look at you!!, you look crazy!!." joked Burt, Claudia couldn't help but smile and laugh along with him.

"Thanks, I needed that." said Claudia, smiling brightly.

Burt then wet her hair with a water bottle and ran a brush all the way through her hair, straightening it out once again. He then pulled out his scissors, "Well, you ready?." asked Burt.

But Claudia wasn't able to respond, as an extremely loud explosion rang out, the ground seemed to shake as well following the blast.

"What the heck was that?." asked Burt, looking back towards the front doors, people could be seen running past the windows in a panic. More explosions rang out, this time closer.

A town guard then burst through the front doors, "Imperial soldiers are attacking, you must evacuate immediately!!." ordered the guard, before leaving.

"Imperials...from the Empire are attacking??." said Burt, "I thought the war was between the Federation and the Empire."

"I'm sorry, but I have to get home right now." said Claudia, getting up and tearing away the apron she had on.

"Be safe Claudia!!." shouted Burt.

Claudia then ran as fast as she could back home, the streets were filled with cars and trucks trying to get out of the city, people were running all over the place in a panic as well, the local police and town guards all heading to the southern side of the city, were the fighting was taking place. Columns of thick black smoke could be seen rising from the southern area of the city, large explosions going off every now and then.

Claudia then rounded the corner of the street and spotted her house...but it was on fire. The 2nd floor had collapsed onto the 1st, and there was a large round hole in the roof of her house which was now a raging inferno.

Claudia dropped to her knees and stared at her destroyed house in shock, tears welling up in her eyes. She stayed like that for a few seconds before throwing her head back and screaming "MMMMOOOTTTHHHEEERRR~!!!!!." at the top of her lungs.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2- New faces appear**

Afew days after the attack on Port Water. Refugees and other survivors were waiting in line at a bus depot in Bermont City. They were boarding buses, trucks and Military troop transports that would take them to Randgriz City, the capital of Gallia.

However Claudia Mann was sitting on a row of benches, her knees tucked up to her chest with her arms wrapped around her legs. She was still in shock after finding her home destroyed, and learning that her mother never made it out before it was destroyed.

Meanwhile, a station master was leading an older gentleman to where Claudia Mann was sitting, "Here she is, here's Claudia Mann. we found her collapsed on the ground outside of her home and brought her here." said the station master.

"Alright, thank you for finding her for me." said the gentleman, "I'll take care of her from here on.", the station master bowed respectfully then departed. The older gentleman took a deep, nervous breath then headed over to Claudia Mann.

Claudia was still staring down at the ground sadly, before she heard someone call her name.

"Claudia?, Claudia Mann??." asked the gentleman, and Claudia raised her head.

"Yes?." she replied softly, and she saw an older man, wearing a black eye patch over his left eye and wearing a red headband just like she was.

"Claudia...I'm your uncle. My name is Robert Mann. And I'm here to take you to Randgriz city, you'll be living with me from now on." said Robert.

Claudia's eyes opened wide, "My...uncle?." said Claudia, "I don't ever remember seeing or hearing about you before."

Robert looked down, "No...I don't imagine you would. Your mother and I were not on good terms." said Robert.

"Why...what happened?." asked Claudia, taking her arms away from her legs and placing her feet back on the ground.

"That's a story for another time." said Robert, "But for now, come with me. I'm here to take you to your new home."

"But what about my sister?." asked Claudia, "I still do not know where she is."

"Where was she before the attack?."

"I remember that she said she was going over to a friends house." said Claudia.

"Well, then I'm sure that she is in good hands. Perhaps they took her to a safe place, which is what I'm here to do for you." said Robert, holding out his hand to Claudia.

Claudia hesitated for a moment, then took Roberts hand and together they left the bus depot and got into his truck just outside of the depot. They then began the drive to Randgriz city. Claudia rested her head against the window, closed her eyes and slipped into a uneasy, exhausted sleep.

When she awoke, she and her uncle had arrived in Randgriz city and had pulled up to a small, 2 story house in the very old housing district of "Old town.". Robert got out of the truck, with Claudia following close behind him, the duo then entered the house. It was very plain looking. With only the most basic items which included a small table, 2 chairs, stove, fridge and a couch. Upstairs wasn't much better, just 2 bedrooms with a basic wooden bed and a wooden drawer for storing clothes.

"It ain't much, but it's home." said Robert

"It's alright, I'll take it." said Claudia, sitting on the bed, which was very hard and had a large wool blanket on top. "Listen, I'm just going to go straight to bed...is that alright?."

"Alright, good night." said Robert shutting off the light and closing the door.

Claudia then laid down in her bed and drifted off into a deep, dreamless sleep. And before she knew it, it was dawn, the next day.

Robert was downstairs, preparing breakfast, when he heard Claudia descending the staircase.

"Morning, I hope your hungry." said Robert, placing an equal amount of bacon, eggs and toast onto the two plates.

Claudia sat down at the table and her stomach growled loudly, "Yes, they didn't feed us much more then rice, soup and water at the bus depot the last few days." replied Claudia, quickly devouring the meal.

Robert looked at Claudia's clothes, which were pretty dirty, after having wore the same clothes for the last few days. So he stood up, walked over to a large wooden drawer in the next room and took out a very large bag of money and placed it on the table in front of Claudia who had finished eating.

"Figured that you might want to buy some new clothes and other items that you might need now that you live here." said Robert, sitting back down again. "You may use everything here to do so."

The bag of money was far bigger then Claudia's own closed fist, but she didn't bring a single item from her home, so she took the bag. "Thank you...uncle." said Claudia, sliding her chair away from the table and exiting the house.

claudia then made her way through the busy streets of Randgriz, the city was much nicer then her own home city. But she still felt at home navigating the city streets, being a city kid and all. And after a very long day of shopping she began the long walk home, multiple bags in each hand.

Exhausted, Claudia found a bench on one side of the road and sat down. But it wasn't long before a blue and white military jeep appeared, sputtering and making alot of weird, grinding noises. The jeep then came to a halt a short distance away from where Claudia was sitting and a young girl wearing a red and white head scarf and dressed in a blue, red and white Militia uniform exited the passenger side door. Another female Militia soldier exited the drivers side and they both moved to the front of the jeep and popped the hood.

"Great, this is just what I need." said the girl in the red and white head scarf. "Think you can fix it Elysse?."

Elysse let out a long yawn, "hmmm, I don't know...I'm a usually just a lancer and your jeep driver Alicia...I mean Sergeant Melchiott." said Elysse.

Alicia placed her hand against her forehead and sighed, "Great, now I'm going to be late for the squad meeting." said Alicia.

Claudia, feeling an urge to help, stood up and made her way over to the two Militia soldiers. "Excuse me, I think I might be able to lend a hand." offered Claudia, "I'm quite good at fixing things."

Alicia and Elysse looked at each other, "Alright, I'd greatly appreciate it." said Alicia, Elysse went around to the back and took a large toolbox out and gave it to Claudia.

Claudia then went right to work, moving at an impressive speed as she rummaged through the toolbox, finding exactly what tools and parts she needed to fix the problem. And after some tinkering she closed the hood and wiped her sweaty brow.

"Alright, give it a try." said Claudia, and Elysse hopped back into the drivers seat and turned the key in the ignition and the jeep started perfectly and purred like a kitten as it idoled.

"Wow, your quite skilled with a wrench." said Alicia.

Claudia nodded and smiled, "I don't usually leave my house, so I spent alot of my spare time fixing things around the house. From simple things like to toasters and refrigerators all the way to things like my families vehicle." said Claudia, wiping her oily hands onto a large white rag from the toobox.

"I'd love to stay and chat, but I must be getting back to base." said Alicia, "It was nice meeting you miss..."

"Claudia, Claudia Mann." said Claudia, stepping away from the jeep.

"And I'm Alicia, Alicia Melchiott." said Alicia, smiling as she climbed into the jeep and closed the door.

The jeep started to drive off, but stopped and Alicia looked back, "Listen, have you ever thought about joining the Militia?." asked Alicia, "We could really use a mechanic as skilled as you in our Engineering sector."

Claudia thought for a moment, "Never thought about it, but I'll take it into consideration." said Claudia.

"Great, I hope you join us in our fight against the invading Empire." said Alicia, smiling once again before the jeep sped off.

Claudia placed her hand against her chin as she walked back to her shopping bags, "Join the Militia...I just might do that." thought Claudia, picking up her bags and continuing her walk back to her uncles house.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3- A cause worth fighting for**

It was late into the afternoon of the same day that Claudia had talked to Alicia about joining the Militia. She was sitting at the same, wooden table with her uncle, eating supper that evening.

Claudia then paused as she was chewing a mouth full of mashed potatoes, "Uncle Robert...I was thinking about joining the Militia." said Claudia.

Her uncle nearly choked on a mouthful of roast beef, "what did you say...Claudia...that's not something that you want to do. Believe me!!." said Robert.

Claudia set her fork down in anger, "And why not!!." shouted Claudia, shoving her chair away from the table. "Those damn Imperials are the ones who killed my mother!!.", she then stood up and was about to run upstairs before her uncle called her name.

"Claudia!!." called Robert, and Claudia stopped in her tracks before reaching the stairs. "Claudia...I fought against the Imperials in the last European War. I fought them in the trenches, I fought them all across Gallia. If I had one wish, it would be that no one ever has to see or experience the terrible things that I have during that war. And that it never changes anyone like it did me.". Tears formed in Roberts one good eye before he slid his own chair away from the table and sat in his large chair in the living room.

Claudia turned around and looked at her Uncle Robert, before heading upstairs into her own room. she slammed the door shut and jumped into her bed, tears streaming down her cheeks in anger and grief. Crying both her for dead mother and her Uncles unwillingness to understand her pain.

The next day Claudia had packed her belongings into her duffel bag, before heading downstairs and towards the front door. Her uncle was sitting at the table, breakfast prepared.

"Where do you think you are going?." said Robert, taking a drink of his Orange Juice.

Claudia stopped and dropped her duffel bag, "I'm joining the Militia, it's my choice!!." said Claudia.

"And what will you be fighting for??." asked Robert.

"For my mother, for revenge. It's all I have now!!." said Claudia, tears forming in her own eyes.

Robert sighed sadly, "You know that story I was going to tell you, now would be the best time." said Robert, Claudia turned around and looked at him. He pointed to the chair across from him. Claudia turned around, then proceeded to sit down in the chair in front of Robert.

"Claudia...don't do it. If anything, don't fight for revenge." said Robert

"And why not, they took my mother from me." replied Claudia, tears in her eyes. "Now neither me or my little sister have anyone to look to."

"Claudia, revenge won't get you anything." said Robert, looking away. "I know this more then anyone."

"My mother, the one who I loved the most in this life is gone." said Claudia, "So why shouldn't I fight. You have no idea how I feel right now!!."

"Because Claudia, I do know how you feel right now." said Robert, Robert then stood up and walked to a large wooden drawer in the corner of the room, and opened the top drawer, removing an item before turning around and showing it to Claudia. It was a very old picture of Robert, his wife and their newborn baby daughter held in his wife's arms.

"Everyone who has ever mattered to me in this life has been killed in the last European war." replied Robert, Claudia gasped in shock, "So I know very well how it feels to lose somebody."

"Uncle Robert..." said Claudia, beginning to feel sorry for him.

"And like you I once decided to fight for revenge." said Robert, holding up the black and white picture of him and his wife holding their baby in the photo. "I fought to avenge my slain wife and daughter."

Claudia's eyes opened wide before she lowered her head, too shocked and surprised to say anything.

"The next part you hear is something that I know you will probably hate me for. But I feel it is important to tell you." said Robert, sitting back down in his chair and looking down at the photo of his wife and daughter. "Near the end of the last war I lost my wife and new born daughter to a rocket attack on a train that was taking them to safety. I was there, I saw the train explode and the fires engulf my wife and daughter. After that I swore revenge on the Imperials who took my family away from me."

Claudia swallowed hard, tears forming in her eyes, "I'm sorry uncle..." said Claudia.

"And your father, my brother followed me on my quest for revenge. He saw how much it affected me, how much anger it filled me with. And together we tracked down the Imperial officer who was in charge of the rocket attack and stormed his stronghold. But during the fighting...your father and many of his soldiers died, he lost his life in the attack and all I lost was this eye of mine. And Not long after, I made it through the Imperial officers guards, cornered him and in my own rage, killed him. But nothing changed."

Claudia continued to listen, nodding her head as she took in his story.

"After I killed him, nothing changed." said Robert, "My family didn't magically reappear, my brother...your father didn't come back. I ended up with less then I had, lost even more afterwards. Your mother, my brothers newly wed wife at the time has held a grudge against me ever since for getting her husband killed."

Claudia's own mother never spoke of how her father had died, but now that she knew she began to feel alittle angry herself as she looked at her uncle.

"So Claudia, if you still decide to go. Fight for something that will benefit not only you but everyone else. Because if you fight for revenge you'll only loose yourself in that quest and end up with only emptiness..." said Robert, "I know that I cannot protect you from the mandatory conscription forever, so if you must go, go and fight for a better reason then revenge."

Claudia nodded and picked up her duffel bag once again, "Uncle..I forgive you for my fathers death." said Claudia, "But I still want to join the Militia, I will fight for others, so that they never had to lose their family like you and I have."

Robert nodded and picked up a giant bag of money and set it on the table, "Make sure you have everything that you will need after you sign up." said Robert, "The militia is less well supplied then the regular army."

Claudia nodded and walked over to the table, picking up the bag up money. Then walking over to her uncle and gave him a long, warm hug. "Thank you for warning me." said Claudia, "I will fight for something other then revenge."

Uncle Robert returned the hug, before letting Claudia go. She then left his house and began the walk to a nearby bus stop, that would take her to Fort Amatriain, the Gallia Militia base just outside of Randgriz. And not long after, the bus arrived, taking Claudia and many other new recruits to Fort Amatriain.

Once they arrived, a large Militia Officer in the blue, red and white uniform of the Militia appeared as everyone was getting off the bus.

"Alright Maggots!!." shouted the officer, "Line up!!." and everyone, including Claudia lined up in single line formation in front of the bus.

"My gosh...this is the sorriest looking bunch of maggots I have ever seen." said the large drill instructor with a blue and white eye patch over his left eye. "Well let's hope your worth more then you look, now get to the recruitment hall and sign up NOW!!."

"Sir, yes sir!!." said everyone in unison, all of the new recruits, including Claudia then ran to the recruitment hall and lined up at one of the desks which had many higher ranking officers sitting at them.

And as Claudia stood in line, she thought of what she wanted to be and then remembered Alicia's words of advice. "We could really use skilled mechanics as you in the engineering sector."

"Next!!." called out a male officer and Claudia was next to head to the table, "Name and desired sector.", said the officer, holding out a pen to Claudia.

Claudia took the pen and took a deep, nervous breath before putting the pen to the paper. "Claudia Mann, Engineer." she signed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4- Warm welcoming amongst the ridicule**

Claudia Mann was in the mess hall of the giant Militia base, after having signed up to become a Engineer. And as she took her tray that was piled high with food into the sitting area, she looked around for a place to eat. Every table already had people sitting at them, so there was no way Claudia would be able to sit by herself, she'd have to join a group.

Which for her would be difficult, as her shut-in life didn't provide much opportunity for socializing. So she was not sure how to go about doing so, so she just remained standing where she was for a moment, then looked over and saw a younger man with some kind of eye patch over one eye. But he seemed to be able to see out of the glass eye piece, which seemed strange that he would need it in the first place. But Claudia watched him and took notice of how easily he joined a group of strangers.

"Hey how's everyone doing, the name's Vyse!, Vyse Inglebard!. Mind if I join ya?." said Vyse, brimming with confidence.

The guys and girls sitting at the table looked at each other then smiled, "Sure thing, pull up a chair!." said a man with a long white headband around his forehead. And Vyse sat down and began shaking everyone's hands and laughing with them.

"Hmmm...doesn't seem too complicated." thought Claudia, and she went off to find a table with an open spot and soon enough she found one.

There were 3 girls and 4 guys sitting at this particular table, and Claudia went to the front of the table, carrying her tray with both hands. She then cleared her throat. "Hmmm...Hello everyone, I'm C-Claudia, Claudia M-M-Mann. Mind if I j-join this table?." said Claudia, her voice soft and cracking, obviously very nervous.

"Eehhh?, your gonna have to speak up. Can't hear ya??." said a shoulder lengthed brown haired girl, with a single bang across her forehead.

"I think she said she wants to sit with us Audrey." said a darker skinned with with her hair in a high pony tail.

"Oh I see, thanks Freesia." said Audrey, she then extended her hand out to Claudia. "Hi, I'm Audrey, and your name was...?"

"Oh, It's Claudia, Claudia Mann." Said Claudia, removing her right hand from her tray to shake Audrey's hand. But in doing she, her tray, piled high with food and drink spilled all over the table. Her pile of spaghetti and meat sauce spilling in Freesia's lap, causing her to jump up and scream, while at the same time Claudia's drinking cup spilled all over Audrey's shirt and into her lap, she also jump up and let out a screech.

Their legs hitting the table as they jumped up caused everyone else's drinks to spill and the table to tip to one side and now everyone's meal was ruined, their clothes were covered in food and drink.

"oh...no..." said Claudia softly, seeing the mess that she had just caused.

Everyone was wiping their clothes down with napkins and paper towels, all of them glaring at Claudia.

Audrey's eyes burned with anger, "Ahh!, my hair is ruined!!." screamed Audrey, her hair sticky and gooey with drink and spaghetti sauce. She then turned to Claudia, "What did you say your name was again?!?."

Claudia swallowed hard, "Claudia...Claudia Mann." said Claudia, she then noticed that the mess hall was dead quiet now, and as she looked around, all of the new recruits were staring at her, some still chewing their food but staring none the less.

A taller blonde haired guy with his hair all styled 'greaser' style walked up to Claudia, "Alright twerp, from now on, keep your distance from us. Your no longer welcome at our table anymore." he said.

"That's right Theold, she's a walking disaster!!." cried another girl.

And Audreys group all left the mess hall together, some heading to the washrooms to try and get the stains out of their clothes.

Claudia looked around once more and everyone looked at her for a few more moments then everyone went back to their meals and began chatting once again.

Claudia sighed, "I really do have the WORST luck!." thought Claudia, she looked at the ground sadly, but she then saw something out of the corner of her eye. So she looked to her right and saw a girl waving at her, once she got Claudia's attention she was gesturing for her to come over. So she obeyed and walked over to the other group, there were 8 guys and girls sitting at this table.

"Hey, tough luck with that last group. Mind joining us?." asked the kind hearted girl.

Claudia was surprised, but nodded her head. "O-ok, if you don't mind." said Claudia, everyone in the new group nodded and smiled.

"It's tough fitting in, so we don't mind at all." said the girl, "All of us are sort of...what do you call it...outcasts."

"Outcasts?." asked Claudia, placing her right hand against her chin and tilting her head slightly to the left.

"Oh yeah.", she then pointed to a very young girl, "This here is Aisha, she's the youngest shock trooper in all of the militia at age 12. In being so young, not many people want to hang around her."

"Nice to meet you." Said Aisha, smiling brightly at Claudia and giving her a peace sign with her right hand.

She then pointed to a group of people sitting at the opposite end of the table, "That's Nadine, Lynn and Wavy. They're all Darcsens, despised for nothing more then being born Darcsen.", Nadine, Lynn and Wavy smiled and nodded to Claudia.

Lynn wiped the mouth of a man sitting next to her with a napkin, he didn't know he had some sauce left there, "And that there is Karl, he's Lynn's boyfriend. But being the boyfriend of a Darcsen, people tend to treat him the same as Lynn or Wavy or Nadine...not very nice at all."

"And lastly this here is Emile and Oscar.", both of the brothers nodded and waved to Claudia, "Emile is quite sick, which makes others not want to work with him sadly...he can't help it. And Oscar, despite being offered numerous positions in higher, more famous squads declined each invitation, rather choosing to stay by his brothers side. Not many take kindly to that for some reason, they believe he's being held back."

"And you are?." asked Claudia.

"Oh sorry about that, the name's Dorothy. Dorothy Howard. Nice to meet you." said Dorothy.

"Well I'm very pleased to meet all of you." said Claudia.

"Your welcome to sit with us anytime you want." said Aisha.

"Yeah, so long as you don't mind hanging out with us Darcsens." said Nadine.

"No not at all, I hold no prejudice towards Darcsens...infact I don't think I've ever met one up close." said Claudia. "I like the color of your hair by the way."

Lynn chuckled and ran her hand along her hair from front to back, "Thanks, it does have quite a nice dark purple tone to it doesn't it??"

"Absolutely, it's one of your best features." complimented Karl.

Wavy adjusted his glasses with his left hand, "Now young lady, shouldn't you be heading back up to the cafeteria and getting some more food." said Wavy.

Claudia's stomach growled loudly, "Oh right, I almost forgot." said Claudia, and she stood up and turned around, however another squad was in line and the line was long. Another squad was just entering the mess hall as well.

"Alright finish up your meal and make room for the next groups!!." ordered a militia officer.

Claudia sat back down, "Oh well, I wasn't that hungry anyways...hehe." chuckled Claudia, but her stomach growled loudly once again, and Claudia sighed.

Everyone then looked at eachother and smiled. Nadine passed her salad bowl down the table to Claudia, "I'm more of a fruit loving person."

Lynn handed Claudia a green apple, "An apple a day keeps the medic away."

Karl passed Claudia his spaghetti bowl "Never liked the stuff much anyways."

Aisha slide another cup filled with apple juice towards Claudia, "I took two!, I wasn't supposed to but I did anyway, haha, please don't tell anyone!!."

And lastly Dorothy put a large muffin next to Claudia, smiled and wink at her. "Now eat up, you must be starving."

Claudia's lips began to quiver, tears forming in her eyes as she looked down at the new delicious looking meal in front of her, "Guys...thank you all so much!!." said Claudia, two tears falling from her eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5- A very special gift indeed**

Claudia Mann was on her way to her assigned room of one the many female squad barracks, the facility was in a university styled layout. With dozens of room per floor. Claudia was looking down every now and then at her assigned room number, which by some stroke of bad luck was 113, the fact that it even had 13 in caused her hands to tremble as she looked for her room.

But soon enough she found her assigned room and set her bags down. There were no locks on this door, probably so that officers could make random room inspections. So Claudia reached out and turned the knob and slowly pushed the door open. But a voice from inside stopped her.

"HEY!, you ever hear of knocking!!." shouted a deep, cold sounding voice, almost devoid of emotion.

"Sorry.", Claudia then gave a quick knock and once again opened the door. She then saw her other 4 room mates.

One was a very pale skinned girl, with scary looking eyes like those of a serpent and very dark parted hair, who was sitting on the bottom of one of 2 bunks in the room. The other was a girl wearing a white knit cap on her head, she had some kind of 2 black marks under her eyes. She was sitting on the top bunk tossing a stick grenade sideways from hand to hand. The last was a black haired girl with half of her face hidden, only 1 of her eyes visible as she sat on the top bunk reading a book.

Claudia gulped nervously and picked up her duffel bag and large bag of money and headed inside. She then placed her bag on the bottom bunk underneath the dark haired girl and stood up straight.

"I'm Claudia, Claudia Mann." said Claudia, looking at her new roommates. The creepy looking, snake eyed girl just glared at her. The knit cap girl stared at her with unblinking eyes and the black haired girl on the top bunk didn't even bother to look as she turned the page of the book she was reading.

"What's in the blue bag you got there?." asked the pale, snake eyed girl.

Claudia looked down at the bag of money her uncle had given her. "Oh that, it's nothing..." said Claudia.

An evil grin spread across the snake eyed girls lips, "Nothing, sure doesn't look like nothing.", she then got up and strode over to Claudia's bedside and gave the bag a soft kick with the toe of her boot and the coins jingled inside. "Sounds like money, so why not share the wealth."

"Oh ummm, I kind of need it." said Claudia, the knit cap girl jumped off the top bunk and walked towards Claudia.

"Come on, we're roommates aren't we. We don't want to get started off on the wrong foot now do we." said the knit cap girl

Claudia now had the two girls on either side of her as they both chuckled evilly, the black haired girl on the top bunk still took absolutely no interest in what was going on just below her. She just casually turned to the next page of her book.

Just then there was a knock on the door of their room and a girl with a red and white headscarf entered the room and saw what was going on. "Alright, just what's going on here!!." she said.

The snake eyed girl scoff and turned around, "Nothing Sergent Alicia, we were just introducing ourselves to the new recruit." she said, turning around once again and taking Claudia's hand with her own. "The name's Jane Turner, **pleasure** to meet you." said Jane, shaking Claudia's hand, but at the same time squeezing her hand so hard Claudia winced in pain. Also the way she said 'pleasure' was so evil sounding it actually frightened her.

"And I'm Wendy Cheslock, hehe, Kaboom!." said Wendy, softly punching Claudia in the upper chest area.

"Marina Wulfstan." said Marina in barely a whisper, still not even looking away from her book she was reading.

"So I assume that that means that your Claudia Mann." said Alicia, looking down at a clipboard in hand. "There's some people waiting for you downstairs."

"O-ok, I'm coming." said Claudia, reaching down and grabbing her money bag from her bed and heading towards the door.

"Hehe, we'll see you again." said Jane, grinning evilly.

"Yeah, catch ya later Roomie." said Wendy, giving a two finger salute with her right hand.

Claudia followed Alicia down the hallway, clutching the money bag close to her. "_Talk about unlucky_." thought Claudia, closing her eyes and sighing loudly.

"What's the matter private?." asked Alicia.

"Hmm, oh nothing Ma'am...just having a rough first day." said Claudia.

"Well don't worry, it gets easier after the first few days." said Alicia, giving Claudia a big grin.

Claudia then reached the lobby area and saw Nadine, Aisha and Dorothy were waiting patiently for Claudia to arrive. When they saw her they smiled and waved.

"We're heading to the on base general store, gonna stock up on supplies before training begins tomorrow." said Nadine, "Figured you'd might like to join us."

"Sure thing, I need to get away from this place for awhile." said Claudia, desperate to get away from her new roommates.

The group then set out together to the general store, Claudia getting a chance to see the sheer size of the base. There were dozens of barracks just like the one she was staying in. shooting ranges, training ground with obstacles and tank hangers. And soon enough they had found the general store. And after some looking around Claudia had found everything that she needed, which included plenty of bars of soap, white shirts and black shorts for training, tooth paste, brush and other essentials.

Once the clerk rang up Claudia's order and told her the amount owed Claudia reached into the blue money bag and began to dig out coins, but she felt something inside, some kind of paper. So she took it out and looked at it. What she saw caused her eyes to widen in surprise.

It was a letter written to Claudia from her Uncle Robert, but included with the letter was a black and white picture of a much younger Robert with his arm around a younger man the same age, both were grinning in the photo and dressed in the same Blue, White and red militia uniform she was wearing, mud and trenches were visible behind the. Furthermore both Robert and the other man were wearing the same Red headband that she always wore for luck.

Claudia flipped the page over and saw "Robert and David Mann, Naggiar Plains." written in large black letters. Claudia then looked down at the note that was in her other hand and began to read it.

**_Dear Claudia _**

**_I know this may be hard to believe, but I'm sure that your father would be very happy to know that you decided to join the militia of your own free will. It was something that he and I did back when the first European war started many years ago. You seemed to have inherited his will to defend his homeland and the ones he loves._**

**_I know your mother has never told you this, but that headband that you wear belonged to your father, David Mann. During the last war he and I were in the same unit, and since the militia does not have specific dress violations regarding the militia uniforms, he and I wore these headbands so that we would be able to clearly see eachother on the battlefield._**

**_After he died, I took his headband and gave it to your mother, though we never said a word to each other when I did and I didn't know what she'd do with it. I know know what she did, gave it to you for good luck. Though she never told you the real significance behind it, I think that somewhere deep down in your heart you must of known that it was something much more important and dear to you._**

**_You resemble your father so much in both looks and personality that I know that you will do well in the militia, it's in your blood. Your father was one heck of a solider and a very dear brother and friend to me. Do him proud and fight for Gallia just as he did kiddo.  
_**

**_Your loving Uncle Robert Mann_**

Tears were already running down Claudia's eyes as she finished reading the letter, she then looked down once again at the photo and ran her hand slowly across her forehead, along her red headband. Now knowing that her father had worn it before her.

"_Dad...I'll work hard to become as great a soldier as you did, just watch_." thought Claudia.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello Readers, I know that it's been a long time since I updated this fanfic. But I decided to wait and see where Claudia would go in my "Adventures in War" story. And I really did consider doing a cross over with both this story and my adventures in War, but decided against it. So yeah, I know alot of you were probably sad when Claudia bought it in my adventures in War, but I just thought that. She's going to be the main character in my next story so...she'll have plenty of spot light later.**

**_____________________________________________________________________**

**Chapter 6- Rough start**

It was the first day of Claudia Mann's military training and she found herself inside of one of the many tank hangers on the base. She and about 6 other engineers were getting suited up in their full uniform packs.

And after Claudia Mann had her blue, red and white militia uniform on, and all of the armoured pads that went with it, she took a few steps around the concrete floored hanger. She then did some jumping and skipping around in a rather childish behaviour. Nadine was watching her, tilting her head to one side, curious about her behaviour

"What are you doing??" asked Nadine

Claudia stopped skipping around and turned to Nadine, "Oh nothing, just thinking that...Wow, now it won't hurt when I trip." Laughed Claudia.

Nadine laughed with her, "Well, sorry to say, but I don't think you'll have much chance to jump and skip around..." said Nadine, turning towards the back of the tank hanger, where numerous backpacks and tool belts and pouches were laid out. "You still haven't put on your Engineers gear, just the uniform."

Claudia looked at all of the equipment, wide eyed "EEHH!!"

It seemed that Claudia had a pretty big misunderstanding about her new role as an Engineer.

She thought she'd be working with tanks and weapons on the base, not lugging nearly every tool in the workshop on her belt, tool/ammo pouches and backpack that she'd having to wear from now on into battle with the rest of her squad. Yes it was true; the Engineers actually followed their chosen squad into battle, fought alongside them and were quite possibly the most valuable members of the squad.

As an engineer, Claudia Mann was tasked with disarming mines, fixing sandbag defences, and carrying enough spare ammo to supply an entire squad in battle. Everything from rifle bandoliers around her shoulders, machine gun clips in various pouches on her belt, sniper rifle cartridges in her pants pockets, and even the giant anti-tank lances in her large backpack. And if that wasn't enough, she also carried enough tools and supplies either hanging off her belt or in different pouches on her belt to repair tanks on-site, in battle.

But she was kind of happy to see that she wasn't the only one struggling to get all of her heavy equipment on. Her backpack was giving her the most trouble, for it carried the heaviest supplies and ammo. She was having a hard time getting the straps around her shoulders, then fastening to hooked belt around her waist.

Just then, her friend Nadine rushed over to her side and helped her get the backpack on and even did up the waist belt for her as Claudia held onto the shoulder straps with both hands to prevent it from slipping off.

"Thanks Nadine." Said Claudia "Boy, I really didn't think we'd have to lug this much stuff around with us. Do we really need all of it all the time??"

Nadine smiled, "Hey, better to be safe than sorry, especially in battle." Said Nadine, slipping her own tool belt on.

And just as Claudia finished putting on her gear, the drill instructor, a man who went by the name of Rodriguez entered the hanger. "Attention!!" he yelled and everyone came to the position of attention.

"Alright Maggots, today we're going to be doing some running. You'll have to get used to the weight of the equipment that you're going to have to bring with you on the battlefield." He said.

"Ahh...I'm tired." Said a soldier behind Claudia

"What was that??" shouted Rodriguez, moving past Claudia and getting face to face with the soldier behind her.

"What's your name soldier??"

"Herbert Neilson...is me, I mean." Said Herbert, in a very slow and tired sounding voice.

"Well just for that, I'm going to have to give the rest of the engineers a special treat." Said Rodriguez

And there was a long pause as everyone stared at Rodriguez, was it going to be a good thing or more than likely a bad thing?

"Rocks!!" said Rodriguez

"EEEEHHHH!!" replied everyone else

Yes rocks, each engineer now had to carry an extra 25 or 30 pounds of rocks from forest surrounding amatriain base. The rocks were inside of rope bags, being carried by the engineers on top of their already heavy backpacks. All of the engineers were following Rodriguez as he ran at the front of the group, the others in rows of 2 behind him; Claudia Mann was at the very back of the training group. She was huffing and puffing, sweating profusely. Once again her shut-in life at home was striking back at her, she wasn't used to running this far, this long and carrying this much weight on her back and shoulders.

Rodriguez defiantly pushed his recruits hard; he had Claudia and her group running up stairs, down the main road of the base and up and down the small sloping training hills.

Nadine was doing the best out of everyone, which was surprising considering she did look a little bit on the frail and weak looking side. Even yet she would slow her pace down if others began to fall behind.

She did this for Karl, who was beginning to fall back as Rodriguez continued running ahead of the group. Nadine saw this, slowed her pace down and began to run beside Karl

"Come on Karl; keep at it, only a little more ways to go. You can do this!!" encouraged Nadine. Karl nodded his head and pushed himself a little harder and managed to keep pace once again with the rest of the training group after Nadine's words of encouragement.

Claudia was starting to feel weak now as the running continued, she dropped her head for just a second and next thing she knew, her foot had caught a small rock sticking out of the group and she fell flat on her face, actually knocking the wind out of her lungs on impact.

"Ah...Just my luck!" said Claudia once she got some wind back into her lungs.

"Claudia! are you alright??" asked Nadine, who had come back to check on her.

Claudia her hand waved from the ground, "Yeah, I'm used to a few bangs and bruises" said Claudia. Nadine then bent down, grabbed one of Claudia's arms and hauled her back up.

She smiled, than patted Claudia on the shoulder. "Come on, let's keep going."

"Sure thing" said Claudia and Nadine and Claudia ran to catch up with the rest of the group.

Soon after, the group had completed their run and were now back inside of the tank hanger, rocks, back pack and pouches removed. All of them were sitting in a circle, awaiting their next training exercise.

Claudia was rubbing her shoulders and moving her neck from side to side. "Boy o boy...I never knew we'd be used like pack mules to carry so much stuff."

And this actually caused a few chuckles from the other engineers, "Y-yeah...I n-n-never thought we'd actually in the battlefield, with our squad, doing so much..." said Karl, he always seemed so nervous for some reason all the time.

"Awe...my shoulders are killing me" complained Claudia, still moving her neck from side to side, rubbing one hand against her left shoulder.

"Here, let me help you with that" said a female voice.

Just then Claudia felt two, warm, soft hands against her shoulders, giving her a massage. Claudia was a little bit surprised and she tilted her head up and looked into a pair of blue eyes and a head of light brown hair.

"Sorry, didn't mean to surprise ya." Said the girl, "Dallas Wyatt's the name, helping fellow militia sisters is the game."

"Oh, thank you Dallas" said Claudia, though she wasn't going to admit it. Dallas did have a soft, soothing touch as she massaged Claudia's shoulders.

Nadine was sitting off to the side of the hanger, alone for some reason. She was twisting the cap off of a small glass container, inside was a brown creamy looking lotion or ointment inside. Nadine took a little with the tips of her fingers and began to rub her neck and shoulder area with it.

Curious, Claudia moved her hands up and grabbed a hold of Dallas's, "Hey, thanks for the massage, but I think I'm good for now." Said Claudia, attempting to get up.

But Dallas grabbed a hold of Claudia and pushed her back into a sitting position. "You're not going where I think you're going are you??"

"What, to my friend Nadine??" asked Claudia

"Listen girl, I don't know if you know about Darcsens, but they're not the kind of people you want to make friends with. If you do, you probably won't be liked very much, not even by me." Said Dallas, now rubbing her hands up and down Claudia's shoulders.

But Claudia brushed Dallas's hands away, "I think I have the right to choose my own friends thank you very much." Said Claudia and she got up and began to walk towards Nadine.

"Tsk...Have it your way Dark-Hair lover" said Dallas

Claudia just ignored her and continued on; soon she was in front of Nadine. "Hey Nadine, how ya doing??" asked Claudia

"I'm fine, thank you" said Nadine smiling at Claudia.

"So...what chat got there??" asked Claudia looking down at the glass container Nadine had in her hands.

"Oh this, it's a Darcsen ointment cream. It helps to treat and relieve sore muscles, stiffness and pain." Said Nadine, "It's used all the time by Darcsens that are working in the mines or industrial sectors"

"Oh really, well I'm feeling a little stiff and sore myself, so do you mind if I try some??" asked Claudia

"Oh no, by all means go ahead." Said Nadine as she passed the ointment to Claudia, "But I gotta warn you, it's not the best smelling stuff."

"Oh really?" asked Claudia as she unscrewed the lid, the scent that came from the ointment was strong indeed and not very pleasant. "Whoa...yeah it is kinda..."

Nadine chuckled, "Don't worry, it's all natural, I just hope you don't mind smelling like a Darcsen" said Nadine.

"Smelling like a Darcsen?" asked Claudia as she took some ointment and rubbed it around her neck and shoulders. She could already feel the stuff working on her sore shoulders and neck.

"Well, you may not know it, but people have always said that we Darcsens don't smell very pleasant, sometimes that we just outright stink." Said Nadine, her blue eyes looking off to the side, in a kind of sad manner. "We Darcsen usually prepare our own medicine and other treatment methods on our own, using ingredients found out in the wild or grown in our gardens. It's one of our beliefs."

"That's pretty neat actually, I don't see why people hate your kind so much anyways." Said Claudia, resealing the cap on the glass container. "You always seem so nice and helpful to me."

"Well I do try my best, but sometimes all it takes is people to see the color of my hair and eyes and that's as far as they'll go in getting to know me. They see that I am Darcsen and they want nothing to do with me." Said Nadine

"Well, that's not the way I see it. You're very nice, friendly and extremely hard working and helpful, that's all I need to know." Said Claudia

Nadine just smiled, "Thank you Claudia, your one of a kind that you are." Said Nadine

"Alright Maggots, breaks over, time to get back to training!!" shouted Rodriguez

Everyone got to their feet, "Yes sir!!" they shouted in unison and everyone followed Rodriguez to the shooting range the next phase of training.

And throughout the rest of the day, Claudia attended range practice, classroom lecture and an engineering course. Once all those were done, she headed back to her room, exhausted from her first really physical day of training.

But as she entered her room, her room mates were already there.

"Hey Roomie!!" said Wendy, snickering and giving a wave

"Welcome back, we missssssssed you" said Jane, hissing her S's in a snake like.

And as always, Marina didn't greet Claudia as she entered the room. She really didn't seem to like interacting with people; she was more of a lone wolf type it seemed.

Claudia just sighed, "Hey guys, I'm back" said Claudia, slowly walking into the room.

But as she was about to sit on top of her bunk, Jane placed her hand on her shoulder and stopped her, "Hold on a sec" she said. And she moved close to Claudia and sniffed loudly twice, "Ooohh...Wendy, get a load of this"

And Wendy moved in and sniffed, "Whoa...did ya roll in some dung or something??" she asked, holding her nose in a disgusted manner.

"No...I know this smell, she smells just like a dark-hair!!" said Jane

"Dark-hair??" asked Claudia

Wendy slapped Claudia in the side of the head, "Duh! A Darcsen" said Wendy

"Oh right..." thought Claudia, she was too tired to remember Nadine's words. "I hope you don't mind smelling like a Darcsen." And it seemed true; Jane Turner immediately recognized the smell of the ointment that Claudia had borrowed from Nadine.

"Look, if you're gonna room with us. Take a shower before you come in here, I can't stand the smell of those Dark-hairs as is. My hometown was overrun with Darcsens living in it. And this is the last place that I want to be reminded of that awful smell they give off." Said Jane, shoving Claudia towards the door

Wendy grabbed a towel and a bar of soap from the nearby drawers and threw them at Claudia, who was able to grab both, but missed the shampoo bottle and it hit her in the stomach. "It's bad enough we got that one dark-haired girl, always trying to be goodie goodie to us in our shock trooper training class."

And as always, Marina took absolutely no interesting in what was going on below her bunk as she continued to read the book she had in her hands. Marina, the strong, silent type she was.

"Alright, sorry guys, I'll go shower and freshen up" said Claudia, backing out the door and walking down the hall to the shower rooms.

Claudia then took off her uniform, red headband and untied her hair from the two little pouches she kept it in and stepped into the shower.

"Oh well...got to take the good with the bad I guess." Thought Claudia as she rubbed some shampoo in her hair. "At least it's not all bad...new friends, new experiences and I'm not doing too shabby in training either. Maybe things will pick up once I get assigned to a squad...yeah, that's it. Keep at it till then." And she went back to showering, humming as she scrubbed and cleaned herself.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7- Next Step**

Claudia Mann was sitting at a small desk inside of her room, writing a letter to her uncle Robert. She was having a little bit of difficulty concentrating though, for Wendy and Jane were behind her, both talking and laughing loudly. Why couldn't they be more like Marina, who was always quiet and either reading a book or cleaning her sniper rifle as she was usually seen doing.

But the talking and laughing coming from Wendy and Jane wasn't very pleasant at all, they were both bragging and boasting about what the other would do to any Imperials they came across during the war. Jane was demonstrating what she'd do, with a large hunting knife, stabbing and prodding the air in front of her. Though her back was to Jane and Wendy, hearing the blade slice through the air behind her caused Claudia to tremble slightly as her pen moved across the sheet of paper she was writing on.

Claudia then finished writing her letter, picked up and looked down at it, re-reading it before sending it.

"**Dear Uncle Robert**

**Hello, I hope all is well back home, I'm doing fine here. Things are going along quite well for me in the militia. Though I have not been assigned to a squad yet, I've been able to keep up with people in my engineering sector who have been working around machinery all their life. Seems my hobby of tinkering and fixing things around my house has really paid off.**

**Though, to be honest, I am a little nervous about this. I didn't realize just how many responsibilities that an engineer has, but I will do my best, for my father and your brother's sake, for my mother and sister as well. I will work hard, fight hard for all of you.**

**I'm doing quite well in the friends department. Made a lot of new friends in the short time I've been here. They're young and old, local and from far away, city and farm kids and even Darcsen friends. But I've also made a lot of...not so friends I guess you could say uncle. Yeah, my very first day here didn't go very well...but all that's behind me, I hope.**

**My life in the barracks is...interesting to say the least. My roommates themselves are an interesting group of people. Maybe not the type of people that I would like to hang out with, but what can I do, I don't make the room assignments right.**

**Anyways, I hope all is well back home in Randgriz. I hope someday, I get to come back and visit, maybe I'll bring a friend or two back with me, if you don't mind. I will write to you whenever I get the chance, so take care and I'll see or write you as soon as I can.**

**Love, Claudia Mann"**

Claudia had finished reading the finished version of her letter and smiled. However, she suddenly felt a presence over both her shoulders.

"My roommates themselves are quite interesting group of people..." said Jane's voice behind Claudia's left ear.

"Maybe not the type of people that I would like to hang out with..." said Wendy's voice behind Claudia's right ear.

And Claudia Mann jumped in surprise, releasing a gasp as well. She looked left and right and saw that Wendy and Jane were bending down just behind her. She hadn't even noticed that they had stopped talking or were hovering just behind her, reading her private letter for her uncle.

"Awww....that hurts Claudia" Said Jane, putting on a fake pout and wiping her eyes as if she was really crying.

"Yeah, harsh girl...harsh" said Wendy, shaking her head in a disappointed manner.

"Rude..." said Marina as she wiped a white rag across the wooden stock of her sniper rifle.

"Sorry guys, just that..." said Claudia, desperately trying to think of something good to get her out of this awkward situation.

But Wendy and Jane were already balling up their fists and cracking their knuckles loudly, getting ready for a scrap it seemed and maybe she deserved it. Claudia closed her eyes and braced herself. But no punches were thrown; instead there was a lot of laughter and snickering coming from Wendy and Jane. So Claudia cautiously opened her eyes and saw them laughing and high fiving each other.

"Relax girl, you don't like us...well that's fine, we aren't to keen on you either." Said Jane

"Besides, a couple of more days and we'll all be assigned to different squads" said Wendy, "So we can put up with you till then."

Claudia let out a sigh of relief, her heart beating furiously. And for at least one more night, her roommates left her alone.

Very early the next day, the entire engineer sector was called into the tank hanger for a meeting. Everyone was present, from Claudia Mann to Ramsey, Nadine, Dallas, Karl, Homer, Herbert and Knute. They were the ones that she recognized and was able to remember their names. There were also many others that had either just joined or that she had never gotten the chance to meet or know. But to have all of the engineers here must have meant that it was something pretty important.

Sure enough, Drill Instructor Rodriguez entered the hanger and called everyone to attention, and they assumed the position of attention. Soon, the sound of high heeled boots could be heard clicking against the concrete flooring of the hanger, slowly growing louder as someone was approaching.

And for the first time, Claudia Mann caught a glimpse of the commander of the entire base, her name was Captain Varrot. She was tall, fair skinned and wore glasses. She was dressed in an officer's coat, an officer's cap and black boots, she also had a pair white gloves on her hands. She was looking down at a clipboard in her hand, then up at the engineers who were all standing in a single, row abreast.

"Greetings, I am Captain Varrot, Commander of this regiment." Said Captain Varrot.

And without being told to, because it was proper military etiquette, everyone straightened up and brought their right hand upwards, the tips of their fingers touching their right eyebrow in a respectful salute to their captain. Varrot returned the salute, and everyone waited until she lowered her hand first, which she did a moment or two later and everyone else followed suit.

"I know that many of you have been waiting for this moment, so I will get right to the point." Said Varrot, she then looked down to her clipboard, running her pen down the list of names.

"Could it be??" thought Claudia, "Squad assignments?!?"

Varrot's pen then stopped moving down the list, "Private Ramsey Clement!" called out Varrot, and Ramsey took a step forward and stomped her right foot against the ground, at the same time shouting "Ma'am!"

"You'll be assigned to squad 6, your commander will be Lieutenant Mason" said Varrot, checking off Ramsey's name from the list

Ramsey just sighed, "Sure...whatever..." she mumbled, and she stepped back into formation

"Herbert Nielson!" Varrot called next, and Herbert stepped forward, stomping high foot against the concrete floor and shouting "Ma'am"

"You'll also be assigned to squad 6" said Varrot, checking his name off

"Great...great..." Herbert said lazily and he stepped back into formation.

Claudia Mann's mind wandered as Captain Varrot was assigning the other engineers to their chosen squads. "I wonder if there's a squad that's better than the other's??, Or if they're all the same." Thought Claudia

"Nadine!" called out Varrot, and Nadine stepped forward and let out a loud "Ma'am!!"

"You'll be assigned to Squad 7, at the request of Isara Gunther. Your Commander will be Lieutenant Welkin Gunther" said Varrot, checking Nadine's name off of the list.

"Yes ma'am!!" said Nadine, stepping back into formation.

"Squad 7?" thought Claudia, a smile then formed on her lips "Lucky 7...how lucky it would be to get on that squad." And now Claudia Mann had some hope or desire on where she wanted to be.

And as Varrot went through the names of the other engineers, Claudia was bouncing up and down on her heels, "Please let me be on squad 7, please let me be on squad 7!" prayed Claudia.

And finally, "Claudia Mann!!" Varrot shouted

Claudia's heart froze in her chest, but she stepped forward and let out a "Ma'am" in a squeaky voice, causing the others around her to snicker and giggle. But Claudia Mann cleared her throat and let out another, more proper "Ma'am!!" and Varrot nodded and moved her pen across from Claudia's name to her assigned squad.

"You will be assigned to squad...1, your commander will be Lieutenant Faldio Landzatt" said Varrot

Claudia's head raised a little, than dropped as she sighed sadly. But she still managed to shout out "Yes Ma'am!" before falling back into the squad.

"Squad 1...wonder what that'll be like." Thought Claudia

Once all of the engineers were assigned to their squads, Claudia wandered around the tank hanger, looking for the other's that she'd be serving with. There were pieces of paper on one wall of the hanger, numbers ranging from 1 to 9 were there and 3 engineers to 1 squad was the assignment.

Claudia wandered down the back wall from squad 9, on her way down to 1. But as she passed Squad 7, she saw Nadine, with Homer and Karl all standing and chatting together. So she decided to join in on the conversation.

"Hey guys!" said Claudia as she walked up to the group.

"Hey Claudia" said Nadine cheerfully, she shook her hand next. "Are you happy with your squad assignment??"

"Well...I dunno, maybe..." said Claudia "I'm a little sad that I don't get to be in lucky squad 7"

"Lucky squad 7" said Karl, "Oh so you've heard of their commander then."

"What?!?" said Claudia, surprised now, for she was only joking

"Yeah, apparently our commander, Welkin Gunther is a pretty famous guy already." Said Nadine, "He's both the son of a famous General, a war hero from the 1st Europan War"

"Yeah, and on top of that, he's already fought and beaten a much larger group of Imperials that were attacking his hometown of Bruhl." Said Karl

"Wow...he sure sounds like a lucky guy" said Claudia, lowering her head sadly

"Hope you don't mind me asking" said Nadine, "But I don't think there's ever really been a sentence where you haven't used the word 'luck' in one form or another. Why is that??"

Claudia blushed a little, then rubbed the back of her neck with her hand, sheepishly, "Ha-ha...well, I don't think you'd ever believe me if I told you." Said Claudia, "But it seems that luck and I don't get along very well...so many bad and unlucky things happen to me nearly every day that it can't be coincidence. I really do have the WORST luck..."

Karl and Nadine looked at each other for a moment, then burst out laughing, but Claudia didn't and soon they stopped, "Oh wait...you're serious..." said Karl

"Sorry...what...kinds of things happen or have happened??" asked Nadine, a little ashamed that she laughed at her friend.

Claudia thought back to her home, her sister, her mother, her father and her eyes began to tear up. Karl and Nadine noticed, Karl wasn't sure what to do, but Nadine did, she reached forward and pulled Nadine close to her, giving her a comforting hug.

"I-...I couldn't protect my family" cried Claudia, "Everything inside me told me that that day was going to be bad, that my bad luck was going to strike again...I knew it, I felt it...but I ignored it. I left my mother and sister that day and went out on my own...I should have stayed with at least one of them."

"So...you've lost your family too then." Said Nadine, still hugging Claudia

Claudia opened her teary eyes and gasped, what did Nadine just say??

"It's alright Claudia, I know how it feels." Said Nadine, "I lost my family to a Darcsen hunt"

"A hunt?" Asked Claudia

"Imperials hunting down Darcsenlike they're wild animals and either rounding them up for forced labour or killed for sport." Said Nadine, releasing Claudia from her hug, she also had some tears in her eyes, but they weren't streaming down like Claudia's were.

"Father...Mother...my little brothers were all killed for the shawls they wore or the dolls they carried, those items were to be used as trophies or to keep count of Darcsen kills." Said Nadine, "So many times did I wish that I was there, but in the end...I wasn't...I couldn't protect my own family. I was away at University, studying literature when I got the news."

"Sorry to hear that Nadine." Said Claudia, wiping away her tears

"Don't worry, It's why I'm here, so that no one else will lose their families like you or I have." Said Nadine, also wiping away her tears

Claudia gasped once again, someone else who had lost her family in war like she had and was here, fighting for the exact same reason she was. But she felt sad again, once she realized that they would not be on the same squad. She was in squad 1 and Nadine was in Squad 7.

Just then, from the left of where Claudia and her friends were standing, "Hey, where's our 3rd Engineer??" shouted Dallas, one of the engineers from Squad 1.

"Sorry, coming coming!!" said Claudia, "Well...looks like I'm going this way, see you guys later."

"Yeah, later Claudia, hope your alright." Said Karl, still a little worried

"Bye Claudia, good luck with your new squad." Said Nadine

"Yeah and thanks, I needed to get that off my chest." Said Claudia, waving good bye to her friends and heading off to her assigned Squad, which was Squad 1

Once she got there she saw Dallas Wyatt and Homer Peron, the other Engineers she'd be working with. Homer didn't say anything just gave a nod. Dallas kind of rolled her eyes and said "Hello..."

The engineers then moved to the back of the hanger, gathered their engineers equipment, weapons and armour and put all of the items on. But on the other side of the hanger, Nadine was speaking with Captain Varrot about her squad assignment.

"Are you sure that this is what you want?" asked Varrot, "Isara went through all that trouble to see that you were specifically assigned to her squad."

"Yes, you can tell her that there is another friend that needs me more." Said Nadine, looking over at Claudia

"Alright, if that's what you want, I will re-assign you right now." Said Varrot, scribbling something on her clipboard.

Soon the entire engineer sector was heading off to their assigned squads barracks. But as Claudia was heading off with Homer and Dallas, Captain Varrot stopped them and pulled them off to the side.

"Alright, it seems that there has been a change of plans. So, Homer, you will be assigned to Squad 7 and Nadine will take your place in Squad 1." Said Varrotand Nadine appeared from behind her and gaveClaudia a wave.

"Awww....Homer gets to go to squad 7 and be with Miss Alicia and I get stuck here...no fair" complained Dallas, puffin her cheeks up in an angry manner

"Mind your words!!" said Varrot sternly

Dallas then snapped back to reality, she had forgotten who was in front of her, "Sorry Ma'am" said Dallas, coming to attention and giving a respectful salute.

"Nadine...wha-"stammered Claudia

Nadine smiled, "Hey...we're the same, so let's work together and work towards that goal we set for ourselves when we signed up." said Nadine

"Thanks...Nadine" said Claudia, smiling gratefully at Nadine. Now she had a good friend and familiar face to work with during the war.

And together, Claudia, Nadine and Dallas walked together towards Squad 1's barracks.

"So, I wonder what our squad is going to be like??" asked Claudia

Nadine shrugged, "Only one way to find out and that's when we get there." Replied Nadine

"Whatever...I already know that it's not going to be good for 2 reasons. 1) Miss Alicia isn't going to be on our squad, and 2) we have a male for a leader...yuck" said Dallas, sticking out her tongue in disgust.

Claudia looked at Nadine and Nadine just smiled and shook her head, seems that she also knew that there was something...different about Dallas. But neither of them dared bring it up in front of Dallas.

Soon the three reached their squad 1 barracks that they were looking for and together they pushed through the double swinging doors. Claudia's eyes opened wide and she let out a gasp of surprise.

"ROOMIE!!" said Wendy, snickering and giving a little wave

"Ssssssoo good to see you again...hehehe" hissed Jane, giving an evil looking grin

"Wow...talk about unlucky" said Claudia under her breath, just her luck that she'd be placed in the same squad as Wendy and Jane. And sitting in the corner was Marina, her 3rd roommate. So by some stroke of luck, she was placed with all of her roommates whom she didn't particularly get along with already.

"Well...what do we have here, all three of our engineers are ladies...awesome" said a young male wearing a blue and white headband. He then cuddled up next to Claudia Mann, placing his arm around her shoulders and pulling her close.

"Well hello there...the names Hermes, Hermes Kissinger." Greeted Hermes, he then let Claudia go and reached down, grabbed one of her hands and brought it up to her lips and kissed the top of her hand like a gentleman. "I see you have a headband...so do I, so we've already got something in common."

Claudia shuddered and pulled her hand away, "N-nice to meet you...ummm...sorry, but I gotta go" said Claudia and she and Nadine slipped past Hermes and walked down the row of bunks. And yet another time her shut in life got to her, she never met or talked to many guys so she was pretty bad speaking to guys as it was. To have some random guy act the way Hermes just did was definitely uncomfortable for her.

As Claudia and Nadine walked together, they heard Hermes testing his luck on Dallas, "Well Hello ther-..." said Hermes, before they heard a loud *SLAP* and a scream of pain come from Hermes

"Back off...Boy" said Dallas and she walked past Hermes, who was on his knees, hand against his cheek that now had a bright red hand print across it.

Nadine and Claudia found a bunk and set their stuff down, Nadine took the top bunk and Claudia took the bottom. And now they got the chance to take a look around the rest of the barracks and see the rest of the squad. And it seemed that Squad 1 was made up of lots of tough looking characters. Marina, Wendy and Jane were just a few of them and she already knew how they were.

"So...feel like going around and making some introductions." Asked Nadine

Claudia looked around and was unsure, but decided that it was a good idea. She'd have to work with these people for the rest of the war, so it was probably a good idea to get to know them. So she nodded and got up with Nadine and followed her as she led.

Nadine led Claudia to a bunk across from them, where a young man with black parted hair and glasses was tinkering with his machine gun, so it was obvious that he was a shock trooper. Nadine smiled and waved, "Hello there, I'm Nadine and this is my friend Claudia, nice to meet you." Said Nadine cheerfully

The young man shuddered, nearly dropping his machine gun on the ground. "Oh...H-hello there, I'm Mica, Mica Hawkins...p-pleasure to meet you." Said Mica nervously, pushing his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose with his middle finger

"Hi..." said Claudia, waving shyly

Everyone stood there for a few awkward moments before Nadine spoke again, "well it was very nice meeting you, but there are alot of others to meet so...bye bye" said Nadine, waving before grabbing Claudia by the wrist and pulling her along.

"I hope that introductions aren't all going to be that awkward..." said Claudia, smiling and chuckling

Nadine then led Claudia to a group of 3 people sitting in a small circle by one of the bunks. She smiled and waved once again. "Hello everyone, I'm Nadine and this is my friend Claudia." Said Nadine, Claudia smiling and waving as well

But the three people just turned and glared

"Tsk...A dark-hair and a friend of a dark-hair...so not interesting in speaking to either of you." Said a grey haired, blue eyed soldier

"You said it Cezary, wonder who or why they ever let these dark-hair in" said a large, blonde haired soldier, probably a lancer

"I hear ya, Theold. I just can't stand the smell of these Dark-hairs. I don't even smell that bad after I've sweat a great deal after I've had an awesome work out." Said a large, muscular female soldier, also a lancer most likely

"Your right on that one Rosina" said Cezary, giving her a high five, his attention then turned to Nadine who had a look of surprise and hurt on her face. "Hey Dark-hair! ya deaf or what, get lost!!"

Nadine just nodded, turned around and walked away, Claudia was worried. "Hey...you ok??" she asked once they were a safe distance away from the others.

"Hey don't worry about me, I've been called that name enough times in my life that it doesn't hurt so much anymore." Said Nadine, "There will always be hate in this world, so I can either get hurt by it all the time or deal with it."

"Wow...you're so strong" thought Claudia

"Well, let's try that again shall we??" asked Nadine, leading Claudia to another person

And they moved to a bunk where a single, very large man was sitting with his arms folded across his chest. He had a toothpick in his mouth and a grim look on his face.

"Hey, my name is Nadine and this is my friend, Claudia." Said Nadine cheerfully, pointing to Claudia who was behind her, Claudia waved as well

The large man nodded, "Nils Daerden, pleasure" said Nils in his deep voice, his grim look never changing.

Claudia gulped; his serious demeanour was kind of scary to her. It was like he was just saying that to be polite and not really interested in meeting them, so Claudia tugged on Nadine's arm, telling her she wanted to move on.

Nadine noticed and nodded, "Alright, nice to meet you, we'll be off now." Said Nadine, waving goodbye and the two moved on.

Soon after they met another large lancer named Hector Calvey, he was a very friendly man and like Claudia he wore a headband, but his was extremely long and white in colour. A female shock trooper by the name of Nina Streiss, who had commented on the girls skinny, frail looking bodies and even offered to personally train them during time off, which they both politely declined. A very large shock trooper by the name of HannesSalinger, he spoke kind of strangely, but they weren't about to say anything like that to someone so big, the good thing was that he seemed polite. And another womanizer it seemed, by the name of Salinas Milton.

There were still many other, random faces of soldiers they hadn't yet gone to introduce themselves to. Claudia even steered Nadine away from Wendy, Jane and Marina, as she already knew how at least two of them felt about Darcsens.

And as they both retired to their bunks for the night, Claudia stopped Nadine just as she was about to climb up onto her bunk. "Hey Nadine...thanks, for everything" said Claudia, "Being so friendly with me from the moment I joined, to transferring to my squad and helping me meet people. You're an awesome friend."

"Hey no problem, we're the same" said Nadine, "And thank you, for never once judging me just by the color of my hair or eyes."

Claudia and Nadine smiled at each other and they both got into their bunks, tired, sleepy and wondering what tomorrow would be like. Training was over, squads were assigned, who knew when their squad would be given orders to go into battle for the first time...


	8. Chapter 8

**_Hello readers, thought it was about time I continued this story. This is also to make up for the grim chapter I wrote for "Adventures in War". This one is alittle more cheerful, funny at times. Hope it makes up for all the death and bad stuff that's happening in my other fanfic. Read both and leave comments, they're very appreciated and help me improve or give ideas for my story. Thanks, enjoy the newest chapter of "Just my Luck" starring Claudia Mann 3 3 3_**

**Chapter 8- Cost of Mercy**

Claudia was dreaming a sweet dream, she was back home with her family. Only this time, it was her whole family, which included her Mother, Father and little sister. Claudia was now able to picture him after seeing him in the photograph that her uncle had shown her earlier. Everyone was sitting at the breakfast table, happily eating, laughing and enjoying each other's company and presence. Her father wearing a red headband, just like she was. He looked over at her and smiled, patting her on the head.

Suddenly the mood changed as an explosion went off outside the window, and in the blink of an eye the entire interior of the house was ablaze, with Claudia now trapped on one side of a gigantic, impassable wall of fire, her entire family on the other, reaching out for her and calling out to her. Tragically, the roof collapsed on top of them and Claudia released a long, sad scream before the floor gave out on her and she fell into darkness.

"Ahh!!" screamed Claudia as she hit the concrete floor of the squad barracks and came to, out of her dream. But she continued to thrash, moaning and whimpering as she kicked her legs around as she realized that her blanket had wrapped completely around her, constricting her arms to her body, trapping her.

"What's wrong Claudia!" asked Nadine as her head came poking out from the side of the top bunk, looking down at Claudia, struggling to get out of her blanket that was coiled around her.

"Wha…" said a groggy voice from across the way, on the male side of the barracks, both sexes slept in the same barracks, but with males and females separated merely by an open space that housed chairs, tables, foot lockers and study books.

"Some recruit is having a bad dream is seems…" said another, this person just groaned and turned over on his side and pulled the blankets over his head.

Meanwhile Nadine had jumped down from her bunk and was trying to help Claudia get untangled from her blanket. Claudia was still grunting and groaning as she struggled to get free.

"Shut up Claudia!!" Wendy yelled in a hushed whisper

But Claudia continued to make noises, the dream had disturbed her a lot more now that she remembered that she was alone in real life, her family gone. Mother recently killed, Father long dead and sister missing. She had to get out, get out from the blanket, get out of the building, just… get out.

Jane rolled on her stomach and put her pillow over her head in an attempt to block Claudia's moans out. But it didn't help much, frustrated, Jane reached over, picked up a bed side mirror and threw it in Claudia's general direction, the lights were still off after all.

"Shut the hell up Claudia, Or I'm gonna come over there and pummel your ass!!" yelled Jane in a tired, angry voice.

"Will you all just shut up!!" yelled Nils, slamming his fist against the side of his bed post.

Nadine had finally got Claudia untangled from her blanket and the first thing she did was get up, and run out of the barracks, pushing her way through the double doors and outside, into the slightly fogging, orange, red and yellow sky. Dawn was approaching, but the sun was still hidden behind the nearby mountains. It was now that Claudia shoulder's began to shake, she wrapped her arms around herself and fell to her knees, bending forward and releasing some sad tears, but she kept her sobs in and cried silent ones.

Just then, from behind her, she felt a thick, wool blanket drape over her shoulders. Startled, she moved away, to the right and someone gasped behind her.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you." said Nadine, finally moving around to the front of Claudia, letting her see who it was.

Once Claudia saw her, and realized that she was outside in nothing but her short blue shorts and white tank top, the sleep wear for the squad. So she quickly grabbed the blanket from off the ground and wrapped herself around it.

"Hehe… I was so eager to get out of this blanket and now I want nothing more then to be wrapped in it again." said Claudia, it was now that she realized how chilly it was out in the early morning air.

Nadine was rubbing her hands up and down her arms, shivering and breathing in and out quickly. "I haven't been outside this early in a long time, forgot how cold it was round these parts." said Nadine, jumping from one bare foot to the other in the wet, dew filled grass.

Claudia then realized something, and brought her hand up to her forehead, quickly feeling her bare skin with her hand and she quickly brought the blanket up and covered her head so now it looked like she was wearing a hooded cloak.

"Claudia??" asked Nadine, curious by this strange behaviour that Claudia was exhibiting.

"M-my Headband…" said Claudia, shaking in her blanket, "I…I never go anywhere without it, so I feel just as naked not wearing it and scared, it's supposed to protect me from bad luck, the worst of my luck happens when I'm outside, away from home. So I'm afraid to be without it as well…"

"O….K…" replied Nadine, her eyes shifting to the left and then the right. "would you like me to go and get it for you??", Claudia didn't respond, she just nodded and she lay huddled up on the ground, keeping her eyes looking downwards.

"Ok, I'll be back" said Nadine, jogging back to the barracks.

Just then, "Huh…" said a soft female voice, "What do we have here??". But Claudia was still too afraid to look up. She then saw a pair of black militia boots, with the leather boot covers and fur appear in front of her as she lay huddled down. "Hey, who's that??", this person then squatted down, wrapping her arms around her knees, hugging them to her chest. Claudia then saw two very long pigtails dangling in front of the opening in her hood. So mustered up her courage and made herself look up and she saw that it was in fact, Alicia Melchiott, the Sergeant of Squad 7, already dressed in full blue, red and white militia uniform, red and white headscarf on her head.

"Oh, Miss Melchiott, I mean Sgt. Melchiott." said Claudia, but still she didn't get up, and Alicia didn't mind one bit that she didn't show her proper etiquette by coming to attention and possibly giving her a salute. Squad 7 wasn't one for forcing formalities among the members of it's squad mates.

"Haha, it's alright, you can just call me Alicia." chuckled Alicia, "So…what are you doing down here, it's quite early to be up and about just yet, you could still get an hour's more sleep if you wanted."

But Claudia shook her head, "No thanks, don't think I could go back to sleep if I tried." replied Claudia, wrapping the blanket tighter around herself, remembering her nightmare.

Claudia then heard Nadine's voice behind her, "Hey Claudia, got your headband right here." said Nadine, clutching it in her right hand as she waved with the left. She then approached Claudia, who just stuck one arm out from the blanket surrounding her and took it from Nadine as she handed it over. There was some quick movement from beneath the blanket before Claudia reappeared, removing the 'hooded' part of the blanket that covered her head, now wearing her father's headband one again, she breathed a sigh of relief as everything felt right once more.

Nadine still didn't understand the attachment that Claudia had to her red headband she always wore, but Alicia smiled as she had a general idea.

"I take it that means a lot to you, more then just another piece of your uniform or wardrobe am I right??" asked Alicia.

Claudia nodded as remained sitting on her knees, "Yeah… it was a gift from my mother, she gave it to me for good luck when I was very young. Luck and I… don't get along very well, so she thought it might help. I've been wearing it ever since I could remember. But… just recently I found out that it… it belong to my dad, my Father." said Claudia, running her right hand slowly across her red headband lengthwise, smiling a bit of a happy and at the same time sad smile. "He wore it during EW1, him and his brother both wore headbands like this. When he died, my father's brother, my uncle gave it to my mother as a keepsake. She in turn, gave it to me, but never told me where she had gotten it from…"

Nadine brought her hand up to her mouth, shocked at what she had learn. "Oh Claudia, I'm so sorry, that's such a sad tale…" said Nadine

Claudia shook her head and smiled, "No, I think it's something wonderful. By wearing it, I am honouring my father's memory of his days of service in the militia during EW1, and now here I am in EW2, wearing his headband, a soldier like he was once was, following in his footsteps. I know that he's up there, smiling down at me and that makes me honoured to wear this." said Claudia, hand still against her headband in pride.

"That's wonderful to hear." said Alicia, "I to have a story about why I wear this…" said Alicia, untying her red and white headscarf and shaking her hair around. She then looked down at her headscarf in her hands as Nadine and Claudia looked on. "I used to work as a baker at a shop in my hometown of Bruhl, on my first day of work the boss saw my long hair and got angry at me. He started lecturing me about how my long, messy hair might get into the customers bread orders. So he went out and bought this for me, and I've been wearing it ever since.

After my hometown was taken by the empire I enlisted in the militia right away. It was wonderful news when I learned that I could continue to wear my headscarf even with my uniform on. So I decided to keep it to remind myself that before I was a soldier, I was a baker in Bruhl. This reminds me of my hometown, my life before a soldier and what I'm going to be once again when this war is over."

"Wow… that's a nice story as well," said Nadine, hand against her chin, "Shame I don't have anything additional to wear to remind me of home or family or anything, never thought about doing that before…"

Alicia and Claudia nodded in unison, Alicia stood up and began quickly re-tying her headscarf back on her head. "It's a shame we aren't on the same squad, this conversation, though brief, was enjoyable." said Alicia, standing up and straightening her uniform, "I feel as if we bonded quite well just now, but I best be getting back to my own barracks, our squad is heading out to take back the great Vasel bridge this afternoon. Take care, hope to see you around." and with that Alicia departed.

Now Claudia felt even more sadness that she wasn't in Squad 7, for their sergeant seemed to be a very nice girl, unlike the officers and soldiers of her squad. All seemed to be rough, tough, and somewhat cold people. Perhaps that's what made them squad 1.

"Well, I think it's best that we head back inside, can't stand out here in the cold in nothing but our shorts and tank tops now can we?" asked Nadine, offering her hand out to Claudia to help her to her feet. Claudia nodded and smiled, took Nadine's hand and was helped up and together, they walked back to the barracks. Once inside it seemed that everyone had gone back to sleep.

Since they were already up, Claudia and Nadine headed into the shower room and had a long, hot shower. Each, enjoying the warm, steamy, long shower that they were given, thanks to waking up early.

A few hours later, with the entire squad up and about, they waited inside of the barracks for their squad leader to come in and address the squad and issue orders for the day. And as they waited, side by side on top of a nearby table, Nadine leaned over and whispered in Claudia's ear. "What do you think our squad leader will be like??"

"Hmm.. You know I don't know, but given how the rest of our squad is. Big, tough and rough looking, I'd imagine he'll most likely be the same. Big muscles, tough, cool haircut and maybe a scar or two on his face." Claudia whispered back, this caused both girls to giggle.

"Squad, atten-tion!!" yelled a male officer, and everyone immediately stood up tall and proper and came to the military position of attention, the room becoming completely silent, save for the sound of boots thumping against the concrete floor as the squad leader was approaching.

With her head still straight ahead, Claudia looked to the right with just her eyes and saw her squad leader. But much to her surprise, he was nothing like she had imagined. Faldio Landzatt, her new squad leader was in fact, very handsome and extremely clean and proper looking. Other then the fact that he kept the top two buttons of his uniform undone and had the white collar of his dress shirt hanging over his blue collar jacket uniform.

He had no cuts, scars or visible tattoos anywhere, an athletic body with normal sized muscles, and his haircut was something else, very proper and cool looking. Claudia smiled a little and blushed at the same time, not something she did for many guys, in fact she never was with or talked to many guys in her time, the life of a shut in was a very lonely one.

Faldio then stopped in front of his formed up troops and looked at every one of them, including Claudia, who was still smiling and cheeks still rosy, but she didn't realize it. Faldio smiled back and gave abit of a wink, it was at this time Claudia realized that she wasn't looking straight ahead like she was supposed to, but rather at her squad leader, so she quickly looked straight ahead, her smile disappearing.

"Greetings, I am Lieutenant Faldio Landzatt, and from this moment on, I will be your leader." said Faldio, hands behind his back.

"Yes sir!!" everyone shouted in unison.

"Our orders for the day, is to proceed with the rest of the regiment and head to Vasel city, to set up a perimeter before squad 7 gets there to re-take the city. Is that understood" said Faldio

"Sir, Yes sir!!"

"Any questions before we prepare to move out??" asked Faldio, his eyes looking around the room.

"Sir!" shouted Jane, hand held up

"Yes, what is it??" asked Faldio, walking up and standing just in front of Jane.

"Will we be participating in re-taking the city??" asked Jane

"No, this task is assigned to Squad 7, we are to work with the rest of the regiment and establish a perimeter so no Imperials can get in or out." explained Faldio

"Damn it… I was looking forward to putting some holes in some imps today." said Jane, frustrated and angry.

"Relax, this war won't be over at Vasel city is taken, there'll be plenty of time for that. For now we just do as we're told, we'll get our chance to shine one day." said Faldio, Jane just nodded and went back to looking straight ahead.

"Anymore questions??" asked Faldio, looking round the room, but no more hands raised up.

"Alright, prepare to move out, now!!" yelled Faldio, and everyone ran to their foot lockers, and ammo, storage and weapons lockers along the walls of the barracks, gathering their equipment and guns. Claudia, Dallas and Nadine were packing their backpacks and pouches with what equipment they needed for the day and filling their pouches on their belt as well.

One hour later, the entire regiment was formed up, tanks lined the entire road of the base, from the tank hangers, all the way to the front gates, soldiers were formed up on either side of the road. A horn began to blow and slowly the tanks began to drive forward, the soldiers on either side of the road began their march to Vasel City. It was an impressive looking military convoy thought Claudia as she walked beside Nadine, Dallas was just behind them, not looking forward to the long march.

A couple of hours later the regiment reached Vasel city, Imperials camped outside of the city saw the large Gallian force coming, and began to retreat back into the city.

"Such a perfect target, all those imps packed into that city up ahead…I say we shell the place, take them out all at once." said Jane, walking beside Wendy.

"I agree, we should just blow em all up now!!, Tee-hee-hee" snickered Jane.

"Can't do that." said Faldio, walking behind them. Though qualified to drive a tank, Faldio preferred to walk and fight on foot with the rest of his squad, he preferred to being amongst his troops, not above them inside of an armoured tank.

"Why not, it seems like the easier choice." said Jane

"Because, headquarters wants that city to suffer as little damage as possible when taking out the Imperials. They want Vasel city intact, not bombed and blown to bits, otherwise the towns folk will have no where to call home when they come back." explained Faldio

"Whatever, it's not us risking our hides to go in there alone." said Jane, resting her sub machine gun against her shoulder and walking alittle further, Wendy following her pace and together they walked away from Faldio.

"No, but it's my friend who is, wish I could help…." thought Faldio, sighing and lowering his head.

Soon the regiment was spread out, surrounding the town, while other squads went on patrol for any Imperials in the area, outside the city. Squad 7, meanwhile was heading into the city, Claudia and Nadine sat side by side on top of a distant hilltop, each was armed with a pair of binoculars as they watched the battle take place. No words were exchanged between the two as they watched.

But even with the help of binoculars the soldiers fighting along the Edelweiss looked like ants. They could make out the symbols for Lancer, Shock Trooper, Scout, Engineer and Sniper on the backs of their uniforms, but other then that they couldn't make out who the people were. They did however spot a brown haired, red and white headscarf wearing girl bravely leading squad 7 members towards the city, tracer rounds zipping past her, striking the ground and flying past other squad 7 members.

Soon squad 7 was inside of the city, and could no longer be seen by Claudia and Nadine from atop the hill they were watching from. Every now and then an explosion would go off, gunfire was constant and columns of smoke would rise up at different intervals all around the city, there was some major fighting going on indeed.

Soon, the gunfire stopped, the explosions ceased and Claudia and Nadine could see the Imperial flag, flying high at the flag pole in the center of the city, high above of the buildings begin to be taken down. Moments later, the blue, white and red flag of the Gallia militia was raised up in it's place, flying and flapping in the wind. This brought a smile to Claudia and Nadine's face.

"Wow… they did it, they took the city in such a short amount of time… and we just sat here and watched it happen." said Nadine, looking alittle disappointed.

"Yeah, but what could we do, we were ordered to remain here." said Claudia, "Looks like they can handle themselves pretty well though."

"Squad 1!!, form up!!" shouted an officer and Claudia and Nadine stood up and began to run down the hill they were at and run side by side back to the main camp. Once they were there they saw Faldio, standing in front of a large radio station, headphone held to his ear. He then looked to his squad members and smiled.

"Listen to this." said Faldio, unplugging his headset and switching on the speakers.

"This is Lieutenant Welkin Guther, Vasel city has been secured!" said Welkin, everyone began to cheer, "We have suffered no casualties amongst our soldiers and the Edelweiss is undamaged, we do have a large number of prisoners here and are requesting a unit to come and secure them while we search for any stragglers amongst the buildings."

Claudia's mind began to wondered as Faldio picked his men, as they were the closest to the city. "Wow… they didn't have one injury or death in their squad, even though they went up against an entrenched enemy force and were outnumbered… they deserve to be called Squad 7, lucky 7 at that…" thought Claudia

"…and Claudia!!" shouted Faldio

Claudia snapped back to reality and quickly shook her head, "Wait…me??" asked Claudia, not sure what was going on.

"Yes you, you'll be part of the prisoner escort I've just assigned." replied Faldio

"Hehehe, daydreaming again roomie"" asked Wendy as she walked up to Claudia and placed her arm around her shoulder, leading her away with the rest of the prisoner escort.

"You better be focused and ready when we get there." said Jane, another member of the 6 unit prisoners escort.

The other 3 were Nils, a rough, scar-faced older man named Musaad Mayfield and Cezary Regard. Each was now armed with a rifle or sub machine gun, exchanging them for their old weapons.

"Oh boy… prisoner escort, gonna see the enemy up close and personal now…" thought Claudia, alittle bit terrified at that thought, she had never seen an Imperial before, not even an unarmed, normal civilian Imperial. She had just heard of them, the most common trait amongst them being they were usually born with black hair and green eyes.

Soon, Claudia and her team had reached the location they were given, and indeed they did see a large group of about 15 Imperial soldiers sitting on top of some rubble inside of a 3 walled building, like they were put inside there to keep them from escaping while two shock troopers guarded the 4th missing wall section. The Imperials looked tired, exhausted and had no fight left in them. Their faces were dirty, covered with sweat and grim, some were bleeding from wounds they had received in battle, one Imperial was tending to his comrade, doing some on the spot treatment with a medical bag.

"Greetings, you must be from Squad 1." greeted a man with an eye patch, and a scar just below his eye.

"Yeah, that's us." said Musaad, reaching forward and shaking this mans hand.

"The names Vyse Inglebard, and this here his my close friend Alex." said Vyse, gesturing over to the other shock trooper, who was blonde and had an orange streak in his hair. Alex just waved from the side, his other hand at the ready, finger near, but not on the trigger of his raised machine gun.

"Alright, we'll take your prisoners from here back to HQ." said Nils, lighting a cigarette. Cezary did the same, breathing out a large cloud of smoke slowly.

"Alright, we could use a break, that was a tough fight today." said Vyse, resting his machine gun against his shoulder, turning and walking away with Alex by his side.

Jane angrily looked at the Imperial prisoners and glared at them, then cocking her machine gun back "Alright, Imps, on your feet!!" ordered Jane, all of them raised their hands and began to exit the destroyed building, some were looking down at the ground in defeat, other's just looked straight ahead, blank faced.

They were then being lead the long way back to HQ, stationed on the other side of the city, and even further outside of the city outskirts.

The prisoners were in a long column, two Imperials side by side for each row, all were looking down at the ground as they were lead through the city streets by the escort unit.

"would you look at these imps, dressing up like they're some kind of knights of the old ages or something." joked Jane.

Cezary poked an Imperial in the back with his rifle, his rifle clanging against the back armoured plate of the Imperials uniform "The Bastards are still wearing armour, hahaha!!" Laughed Cezary

"Yeah, but you gotta love these helmets, they look too damn cool I think." said Wendy as she reached over and removed the grey helmet of one of the Imperial soldiers and put it on her head.

Claudia however remained quiet, she was still quite afraid of the Imperials, even though she had a gun in her hand and they had nothing. One of the Imperials kept looking over at her as he walked, the one who had his helmet taken by Wendy. And he did indeed fit the description of an Imperial, Jet black hair and dark green eyes.

Claudia looked over and saw him staring, she gulped and looked forward, slowly she looked back again, only moving her eyes and not her head, hoping he wasn't staring anymore, but he was.

"What??" asked Claudia, in a sharp tone that surprised even her. Clearly everyone else as they looked back at Claudia.

"Wow, that's quite the sharp tone you just used there girl." said Wendy, still wearing the Imperials helmet.

"Didn't know you had it in you, figured you for a softy." added Jane

"Sorry, I didn't mean to stare." said the Imperial prisoner, looking forward again.

"Look…sorry, I just…sorry" said Claudia, Jane rolled her eyes.

"Hey, quite talking to the enemy, he's an Imp you know." said Jane at the front of the escort group

"It's alright, I'm the one who was staring." said the Imperial, Claudia feeling bad for responding so rudely, moved a little closer to him, so she could speak to him more in a softer voice.

"So what's your name??" asked Claudia

"Mikhail, my name is Mikhail." answered Mikail, now smiling alittle.

Claudia felt a little strange, he seemed like a nice guy, despite an Imperial, Gallia's enemy.

"I'm Claudia, Claudia Mann." said Claudia, offering her hand without even thinking, it was entirely a natural reflex. But he took her hand and shook it as everyone continued walking.

"By the way, I was only staring because you are quite beautiful. I had no idea there were such beautiful women in the Militia. The squad we fought against ealier had some pretty looking girls, some extremely beautiful. It's strange to see females fighting alongside the males in Gallia, as we don't have any female soldiers among the ranks of the Imperial army…well except for one, a female general named Selvaria Bles, don't know why she's the only one." whispered Mikhail as he walked next to Claudia.

Claudia actually blushed and smiled at the compliment, "Thanks, that's…flattering to hear."

"Black hair, dark blue eyes… traits from the girls I tend to go after." said Mikail, now attempting to flirt.

Claudia blushed and giggled for a moment, before cupping her mouth over her hand. Jane turned around and glared daggers at Claudia, warning her. "Claudia!, stop talking to the enemy, you know better!!" shouted Jane, scaring afew of the Imperial prisoners with her hostile tone.

Claudia nodded, but once Jane was looking forward again, the two continued their small talk.

A short while later the escort and their prisoners were outside of the city, walking down a dirt and gravel road. Cezary stretched his arms out to his side and yawned, "Yo, anyone else feel like taking a short break??" he asked, everyone else nodded and the prisoners were escorted to a nearby mound, in front of the nearby forest. The prisoners were sat down together, while the escort members were either guarding them at the front, walking around them, or like Cezary and Nils smoking cigarettes, Jane could be seen talking to Wendy a short distance away.

And Claudia, she was actually sitting with Mikhail on the outside of the group of prisoners, still continuing idle conversation, and she had learned a great deal from him. Sadly, he fought because his three older brothers joined the Imperial army at the start of the war and were killed, so he enlisted to avenge them or die bravely in battle, but had failed at both, now he was a prisoner.

"I had thought that I would bravely sacrifice myself on the battlefield for the glory of the empire to join my brothers who had died bravely in battle…but that looks like it'll never happen, I'm gonna sit the rest of this war out in a prison camp." said Mikhail

"Hey…that does sound better then dying…doesn't it." offered Claudia, but Mikail shook, then hung his head in shame and defeat.

Meanwhile Cezary and Nils were walking amongst the prisoners, handing out some of their cigarettes from their packs. Cezary then approached Mikhail and held out his cigarette pack, a single cigarette sticking out amongst the rest. Mikhail smiled slightly and took the cigarette, nodded and thanked Cezary.

"anytime, Imp!" said Cezary, grinning and continuing on.

Mikhail put the cigarette in his mouth and began to pat his belt and pocket, then realized all of his equipment had been siezed when he was taken prisoner.

"Oh here, let me…I have a…" offered Claudia, checking her pouches and she found what she was looking for, but not quite what Mikhail was expecting, instead of a lighter, she pulled out a small blow torch from a back pouch.

"Haha…guess that'll have to do." said Mikhail, he then leaned in and Claudia lit the blow torch, then very carefully moved the flame towards the cigarette, successfully lighting it for Mikhail.

"Thanks" said Mikhail, he then took a long drag but began to cough loudly, his Imperial comrades laughing at him loudly.

"Oh…you don't smoke??" asked Claudia, though the answer was obvious

"Nope *cough*, but awhile ago *cough*, I wasn't a soldier either." said Mikhail amongst his coughing, "But now that I'm a prisoner…another first, guess it's just a month of firsts for me." said Mikhail, taking another slow drag, but not coughing this time as he breath out a small cloud of smoke and blew it in Claudia's directions.

She covered her mouth and coughed a little, she never liked the smell of cigarettes and thought of it to be a disgusting habit.

Mikhail took another drag and breathed out slow, "Claudia…your extremely kind, would you honour me with a puff??" asked Mikhail, holding the cigarette out to Claudia, held between his index and middle finger.

"Oh uh…" said Claudia, shifting around, not sure if she wanted to. But she figured he was a nice guy and once he was in a prison camp she wouldn't see him again. "Alright." and Claudia reached out and took the cigarette and put it in her mouth, but hesitated for a moment, she closed her eyes and took a long drag, but immediately it felt like her lungs tightened up and she became light headed as well. Next was a long spout of uncontrollable coughing and gagging.

Everyone, Imperial and Gallian alike began to laugh at the small girl, the first action they did in unison.

Claudia in the meantime reached back and took out her water canteen, twisted the cap off and took a mouth full of water and swished it around, then spit it out.

"Wow… that was worse then what I did." joked Mikhail, he then moved the cigarette and took another puff, but smiled "Oh and thanks… for the indirect kiss"

"What?!?" asked Claudia, she then realized what he meant, her lips did touch the cigarette then Mikhail's lips…but Mikhail's lips did touch the cigarette first and then her own when she took a puff. "Oh you…"

Just then, the most unwelcome sound, a burst of machine gun fire, followed by a horrible scream. Claudia and Mikhail looked to the sound and saw Jane and Wendy spraying bullets amongst the seated Imperial prisoners, mercilessly killing the unarmed prisoners, Nils, Cezary and Musaad were shooting the other Imperial prisoners with their rifles as well. Some died seated, some shot in the back as they tried to run, all were unarmed.

Claudia gasped in surprise, cupping her hand over her mouth in horror, Mikhail got up and ran behind Claudia. Suddenly, to her surprise she felt an arm wrap around her neck and begin to apply pressure, moments later she felt a gun barrel press hard against her temple, Mikhail had stolen her sidearm pistol from her pouch and was now holding it against the side of her forehead, she winced in pain.

"Stop!, back off or I'll put a bullet in this girls head!!" screamed Mikhail, backing up, dragging Claudia with him.

All of the Imperial prisoners were slaughtered, their bullet riddled bodies spread all over the mound, spent bullet cartridges everywhere, blood running down the mound in streams. Everyone was aiming their guns towards Claudia and her captor, Mikhail.

"Let her go!!" screamed Musaad, rifle aimed at Mikhail

"Your gonna regret doing that!!" warned Wendy, loading another large ammo clip into her gun.

For every two steps that Mikhail took back, everyone took one step forward, guns never leaving Mikhail as he continued to hold Claudia hostage.

Claudia had her hands against Mikhail's arm as her neck remained trapped against the inside of his arm, she was also whimpering in fear. The kind man she knew or thought she had knew was changed, now he was being quite rough with her, not to mention holding her own pistol against her head.

"Put the gun down!!" roared Nils, glaring at Mikhail

"Down, put it down!!" screamed Jane, eyebrows furrowed, eyes burning with anger.

"Last warning, back off and stop following me, I'll release her once I'm far enough.!!" yelled Mikhail, his heart racing as he continued to back up with Claudia clutched in his arm. "If you take one more step, I'll blow her head off!!"

Claudia's heart froze, she knew that he meant it by the tone of his voice.

Suddenly Cezary raised his hand, everyone looked at him and then lowered their guns slowly, the barrel of Cezary's rifle dropped slightly and everyone stopped walking, allowing Mikhail to continue on, Claudia still his hostage.

Soon the two were a considerable distance from Claudia's group, but Mikhail still held onto her, still choking her. Suddenly his hold loosened, and Claudia looked up and over at him, now looking into his eyes.

"Claudia…I'm Sor-" started Mikhail before his head seemed to explode as a bullet struck him right in the forehead, blood splattering all over Claudia's face as she screamed in horror. His head whipped back by the force of the impact and moments later she heard his body hit the ground like a sack of potatoes.

Then fast approaching footsteps could be heard, "Yo, you alright girl??" asked Wendy

"Damn Imp, I told you not to talk to him!!" lectured Jane

"You let your guard down and he took advantage of you, bloody Imp bastard!!" said Musaad.

"Better say thank you to Cezary, he nailed that headshot that none of us could of made. He is a sniper after all, didn't even need a scope to nail that headshot." said Nils.

Claudia reached up and wiped the blood off of her face with her gloves, then looked up at Cezary. He was waiting, smiling a smug smile as he held the rifle against his shoulder.

Claudia looked down, "Thank you…" she said in barely a whisper

Cezary grinned even wider, "What was that, didn't hear ya??" said Cezary in a mocking, sarcastic voice.

"I said Thank you!!" said Claudia, tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

"Well, that's done with, best get back to the rest of the squad." said Nils, and he started to walk off.

Meanwhile, Jane and Wendy bent down, each grabbed an arm and lifted Claudia to her feet. Jane dusted off Claudia's left shoulder, while Wendy dusted off Claudia's right shoulder.

"Why'd you do that??" asked Claudia, looking towards the dead prisoners.

"Why not??" Jane shot back, "They're Imperials, and deserve no mercy from us. I'll do anything it if means putting holes in Imps!!"

"Yeah Claudia…Oh and you ain't gonna tell on us now are ya??" asked Wendy, placing her hand on Claudia's shoulder, grinning at her with a rather evil, scary grin.

Wendy and Jane crowded closer into Claudia, now looking down at her as they chuckled and snickered evilly. Claudia cowered low and shook her head.

"No…No, I didn't see anything, I'll go with whatever you say…" said Claudia.

"Good girl." said Wendy, patting Claudia on the head and walking past her, quickening her pace to catch up with the rest of the group

"You owe us, we coulda let that Imperial take you away or blow your head off." said Jane, forcefully moving Claudia out of her path, she tripped and fell, right next to Mikhail, who now had a gaping hole in his forehead, blood pooling all around his head. Claudia shuddered and quickly got back up, running as fast as she could to catch up with the others.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9- Trust betrayed**

Claudia and her group were nearing the rest of squad 1, which had now set up camp just outside the city. Multiple tents lined the area, some barracks, some medical tents, other returning refugee tents. The entire way back, Claudia remained at the back of the group, who showed absolutely no signs of remorse for what they did to the Imperial prisoners, as they happily chatted, laughed and joked as they walked together.

But as they got closer and their squad leader came into view, Jane stopped, and waited for Claudia to catch up. And catch up she did, and even as Jane stood with one hand on her hip, her rifle resting against her other shoulder, Claudia didn't notice her at all as she kept walking, eyes still aimed down at the ground. Jane raised her hand up and stopped Claudia as her shoulder ran into Jane's hand.

"Now Claudia, listen up good," said Jane, her serpent-like eyes staring into Claudia's. "The story we've all come up with is that one of the prisoners took you hostage and the others tried to make a run for it, half of that story is true, and you can vouch for that part. But remember, the others tried to escape and we had no choice but to gun them down, got it??"

Claudia's eyes looked off to the side sadly, "Yeah…yeah I got it…" said Claudia, Jane smiled and patted Claudia on the shoulder

"Good girl, just remember the story… or else" warned Jane and she let go of Claudia and caught up with the others. Claudia sighed sadly.

"I didn't sign up for this… what would father think…" thought Claudia, her eyes beginning to well up with tears. And it took everything for her to keep them from falling as everyone entered camp.

Faldio saw everyone and quickly approached the group, "Back so soon??" asked Faldio, "What of the prisoners??"

"Yeah, well the thing about that is…" started Jane, she then narrated the made up story the other's had created, while Claudia remained at the back of the group. Somehow she felt that her father was looking down at her, unhappy with what she was about to do, lie to a superior officer. Not something a great soldier like her father would have done, she was sure of it.

"…audia" said a voice, "Claudia!", Claudia now recognized that it was Faldio's, her squad leaders, he had left Jane's group and was now standing in front of her. "Claudia, is it true, were you taken hostage by an Imperial soldier??"

This part, Claudia would not have to lie about, so she nodded, "Yes, I was" replied Claudia.

"Oh no…are you alright?" said Faldio, he placed his hands on top of her shoulders, much to Claudia's surprise. "I'm sorry I sent you on such a mission… I don't know what I would have done if I had lost a squad mate to it…"

Claudia nodded, next came the question that froze her heart, "Did the other prisoner's try to get away, did they run??".

Hands still on top of Claudia's shoulder, Faldio could feel Claudia's body begin to tremble, his eyes looked up and he could see beats of sweat forming on her brow, and a drop of sweat running down near her right ear. "Claudia??"

Claudia's own eyes looked past her Squad leaders head, and she could see everyone from the prisoner escort looking in her direction. Jane ran her thumb across her throat, threatening her. Jane placed her right hand against her temple in a gun pose and pretended to fire off a shot, a warning also. Everyone else was glaring at her.

"Y-yes, it's true, they did try to escape…the other's had no choice…" replied Claudia, slowly.

Faldio breathed in deep and sighed slowly, "Are you sure??" asked Faldio, his eyes looking deeply into Claudia's, searching for the truth or any hint of it being untrue

Claudia looked away, but nodded her head again. Faldio closed his eyes, his head dropping slightly, he sighed and patted Claudia on the shoulder. "Alright, I believe your honesty Claudia." said Faldio, he then let go of her and walked back to his large, officers tent.

Wendy and Jane approached Claudia, who's head was hung in shame. "Excellent job girl, thanks for covering for us." said Wendy, patting Claudia on the back as she passed her.

"Guess it pays to look the honest type." said Jane, softly slapping Claudia on the cheek as she passed Claudia on the other side that Wendy passed.

Claudia then wandered the camp aimlessly, head hung in shame, eyes looking down at the ground in sadness and shame, her gun dragging along the ground in her right hand as she held the barrel.

"Hey Claudia, good to see ya!!" shouted Nadine's voice, Claudia looked up and over and saw Nadine quickly jogging towards her, her engineering gear and tools jingling and clanging together as they moved around on her belt with Nadine's jogging motion.

Claudia looked away, turning her back to Nadine as she approached her.

"Claudia…something wrong…oh my-" cried Nadine, seeing some red blood in her hair and on her shoulders. "Claudia… are you hurt??"

"No… It's not my blood…" replied Claudia, her voice soft and sad.

Nadine ran around Claudia and looked at her, she saw Claudia's lips quivering, tears in her eyes. "Claudia…"

Claudia grabbed Nadine by the hand, "Come, let's get out of here.." pleaded Claudia as two tears finally fell from her eyes just as the two began running.

A short while later, Claudia and Nadine were now by the river bank that ran underneath the Great Vasel Bridge. Claudia let go of Nadine's hand and squatted down by the river, staring at her own reflection on top of the water's surface.

"War is… terrible…" said Claudia, "I wonder if my father ever thought this…"

Nadine walked up to Claudia and squatted down beside Claudia, "I'm sure he did… guess you've seen your first taste of war… sorry I wasn't there to help you through it…"

Nadine then looked at Claudia's face, her eyes moving upwards until she was looking at her headband, "Oh no… you've got some blood on your father's headband."

Claudia gasped, both hands reaching up and touching her headband, "No…No no no…" cried Claudia, crying even more now.

Nadine reached back, to her rear pouch with her right hand, grabbed a small cloth towel and quickly dipped it into the river's water, then wringing it out with one hand. "Here, let me help you." offered Nadine, turning Claudia towards herself, and moving her hands away from her headband with her left hand. She then ever so carefully began to dab and lightly stroke the area with her wet cloth, able to get most of the blood out.

"Thanks…Nadine…" said Claudia

"No problem, I just hope your able to feel better soon… though that may be tough. Took me a long time to get over seeing death for the first time." said Nadine.

Claudia looked up at Nadine in surprise, "But the war's just started and we haven't even been in battle yet" said Claudia

Nadine slowly shook her head, her dark blue hair swaying left and right with her head movement.

"My uncle was killed in a Darcsen hunt long ago" said Nadine, eyes looking downward slowly for a moment, "I was visiting his home, located in Gallia, very close to the Imperial border. Something I had done often when I was younger. When the Imperials appeared in my uncle's, commencing a Darcsen hunt, my uncle hid me in secret compartment in his closet, one that saved him from other hunts... but it was only big enough for one person.

Hidden, I watched as the Imperials came into the room, and without a word, a high ranking officer, pulled a pistoland shot my uncle through the heart. Naturally, I wanted to charge out and fight them… I loved my uncle, but I knew that he had hidden me for a reason, to live. So I remained where I was, I then watched as they took his Darcsen shawl off his body and added it to an already large, blood soaked, bundle they were carrying. Trophies for that days hunt... "

"Oh Nadine… I'm so sorry…" said Claudia, crying even harder now, "When did this happen, how old were you??"

Nadine sighed sadly, "I was Eleven… too small, too weak, too inexperienced to do anything." answered Nadine, "After that, I dedicated my life to helping other's in whatever way I could. To do always do the right thing, no matter the cost. To do whatever it took to save other's and keep them safe. Those were my vows"

"I admire that, that's very noble" said Claudia, now smiling once again.

"You know I'm always here to help you, whenever you need it right??" asked Nadine

Claudia nodded her head, "Yeah, I know" said Claudia, "And…since you were so honest in telling me your story, I have something I'd like to share."

"Alright, anything." said Nadine

"I…I don't want to be dishonest, not when I have such an honest, brave and caring friend like you. And had a father who was such a great soldier." said Claudia

Claudia then moved next to Nadine as they sat on the riverbank and Claudia explained the truth behind what really happened during the prisoner escort.

"Oh my…Claudia, you have to tell someone!!" cried Nadine, shocked and appalled by what she had just learned.

"No!, I can't… Jane and Wendy are dangerous, who knows what they'd do to me if our squad leader learned about what really happened. That Cezary guy creeps me out too… he seems just as dangerous…" said Claudia, now shaking in her boots, thinking of the others.

"Just…please, it's enough that I told someone the truth, feels like a weight has been taken off my shoulders already." said Claudia, she then got up and walked a few steps away, Nadine remained seated by the river bank, right hand against her chin, "Come on, let's get back to camp."

Nadine nodded, stood up and jogged to catch up with Claudia and together the two returned to camp, shaking hands before they departed to their own destinations.

About an hour later, as Claudia was doing some maintenance on a blue and white militia jeep, half of her body under the hood of the vehicle, she heard someone pound on the hood, the banging hurting her ears as she brought her body back out.

"Lieutenant Faldio requests your presence at his tent, NOW!!" said a female military police officer, another officer stood next to her.

Claudia nodded and dropped her wrench into the toolbox on the ground next to her and walked towards Faldio's tent, an officer escorting her on either side. Soon they reached the tent, Jane was just leaving and the glare she gave Claudia even caused the escorts to feel a slight tingle of fear as she walked past.

"We'll wait out here." said the officer, she and the officer stood on either side of the tent opening in at ease military position. Claudia took a deep breath and ducked under the tent flap and entered the tent.

Inside she saw Faldio, elbows on top of his desk, hands cupped together, head resting against his hands in a disappointed manner. He then looked up and somewhat glared at Claudia.

"Have a seat private…" he said Plainly, pointing to a metal chair in front of his desk. Claudia nodded, and walked to the chair and with a trembling hand she grabbed a hold of the chair, and sat in it.

"I'm very disappointed in you soldier, to lie to a superior officer is a very dishonourable act." said Faldio, "And to kill unarmed prisoners is even worse… they may be the enemy but they were unarmed and defeated."

"Sir I-" started Claudia, but Faldio held up his hand

"I know, you didn't do anything, Nadine told me so, Jane and Wendy also claimed responsibility for the act and said you had nothing to do with it. Your punishment will be less harsh then Wendy, Jane or the other's… not sure what I will do with you, can't demote you as you're only a private. Just know that I am very disappointed that you would go with such a lie, know my trust in you has somewhat lessened after this… maybe that will be enough punishment for now."

Claudia hung her head, "Yes sir… that hurts a lot worse then most things you could dish out. Father would be so unhappy with me…I just know it." said Claudia.

Faldio sighed, "Don't worry kid, your part in the tragic event wasn't very major, don't ever let it happen again… you may go."

Claudia stood up and saluted Faldio before exiting the tent.

As she walked towards a building near the outskirts of the city, an unknown hand grabbed her by the front of her uniform and hauled her around the corner. She was then pressed hard against the brick wall by Jane. Wendy, Cezary and the other's from the prisoner escort were there as well.

"Your either very brave or incredibly stupid to rat the rest of us out!!" hissed Jane, "You've seen what we're capable of, and yet you go and tell on us for killing Imperials, the enemy!!"

Though one of Jane's hands was against Claudia's mouth, she shook her head and began to mumble, unable to form words.

Wendy meanwhile reached down to her belt and drew a long, 6 inch, black hunting knife and held it up, the edge shined in the sunlight. "Keep quiet girl, we may already be in trouble, but we don't mind a little more… would be so easy to just *Wendy then performed a slice across the throat with the back of the knife, the dull edge against her own throat in a threatening manner*, so easy…"

"I think she's trying to say something, should we let her have her last words??" asked Cezary, half sarcasticly, his arms crossed against his chest.

"Alright, but one scream and *crack*, *Jane jerked Claudia's head a little to the side, to show how easy she could break Claudia's neck if she screamed*, got it??" warned Jane, Claudia nodded her head and Jane removed her hand.

"It wasn't me… I would never…not to the squad leader" answered Claudia.

"Oh, so who was it, you must of told someone else." said Cezary

"I didn't think she'd…" said Claudia, looking away

"She… oh… the one you hang out with." said Wendy

"You mean that dark-haired brat… I should have known…" said Cezary

"Tsk…I knew those Dark-hairs were trouble, they even get their own squad mates in trouble and for what… killing some Imps." growled Jane, she then sharply released Claudia, her back hitting the brick wall behind her pretty hard.

An evil smile then formed on Jane's lips and her serpent-like eyes looked over at Claudia, "Well since you told, you owe us a boon." said Jane.

"Hey yeah… sounds good to me." said Wendy, looking over at Claudia and grinning.

Everyone then crowed around Claudia as she sank back against the brick wall in fear.

"W-what kind of b-b-boon??" asked Claudia, trembling in fear.

"Oh, a very very good one, and your gonna be part of it." said Jane, Wendy began to snicker everyone else began to chuckle evilly.

Much later, late into the night, Claudia, headband still on her forehead, laid in her bunk, staring up at the top support bars of the top bunk, unable to go to sleep. Everyone all around her was breathing deeply or snoring as they slept. She took a deep breath and slowly sat up, her bunk's metal springs creaking, so she moved slower, as not to wake anyone. She then looked over the top bunk and saw Nadine, fast asleep, breathing deeply in and out through her nose.

She slowly reached out and poked her in the shoulder once, then twice and Nadine's eyes fluttered open and she looked over and saw Claudia looking at her.

"Cla-" started Nadine, but Claudia held her finger to her lips, shushing her, she then gestured with her head in the direction of the washrooms. And ever so quietly, both girls got out of their bunks and tip toed past everyone else's bunks, towards the washrooms.

Once they were in, Claudia took a few steps away from Nadine and kept her back to her, "why… why did you do it??" asked Claudia in a hushed whisper, slight anger in her voice.

"I'm sorry, but it was the right thing to do." said Nadine, "I may hate Imperials, but to kill unarmed, defence-less prisoners is cruel and completely against Darcsen Beliefs. I did my best to see that you weren't punished, but I strongly believe that the others should be."

"But I trusted you, it was my secret that I shared with you." said Claudia, turning and facing Nadine now. "Now my own squad mates might hate me, and our squad leader has lost trust in me for lying to him. Do you have any idea how much that hurts…"

"I…I don't know what else to say, but I've sworn to always do the right thing….no matter the cost." replied Claudia

"Right…well, I'm sorry then…" said Claudia, her eyes looking just past Nadine as a figure was slowly creeping up on her. Nadine seemed to sense someone behind her as well, she turned her head in time to see a hand come and wrap around her mouth, muffling the scream she was about to release, soon another pair of strong, dark arms grabbed a hold of Nadine's arms and held them behind her back, it was Rosina.

Jane was holding one hand over Nadine's mouth, and Wendy was moving around Nadine on the other side, holding a black rifle strap, detached in hand. Jane quickly moved her hand away and Wendy placed the strap inside of Nadine's mouth, gagging her. Cezary, Theold, Wendy, Jane, Nils and Musaad all moved around and stood in front of Nadine, gagged and arms held behind her back by Rosina.

And in their right hands, dangled white towels, with bars of soap wrapped inside of them.

And as Claudia backed up against the sinks, watching, she remembered her orders.

------------

_"Since it was you who told Nadine and she in turned told Faldio, thus getting you in trouble as well. I think that proves she's no friend to you." said Jane, "So you shouldn't mind doing this for us."_

_"W-what??" asked Claudia_

_"At 1:00 A.M., you lure her into the bathroom, away from the rest of the squad. We'll be waiting to move in as soon as you get her in there, alone." instructed Jane._

_"Yeah, about time we taught that dark-hair a lesson." said Wendy, pounding her balled up fist into her other hand._

_"Can't do it that way, Wendy." said Jane, "That'll leave evidence for sure and she could use that against us later."_

_"So what did you have in mind??" asked Cezary_

_"I think it's about time we introduced that dark, greasy haired girl to a good 'ol bar of soap and a washcloth. She doesn't seem to know how to use it anyhow…I saw we show her how it's done." said Jane._

_"Oh… I get it, there will be no mark left to prove it. Great thinking." complimented Cezary_

_"Excellent idea, we'll teach her to rat us out." said Wendy_

_"Now remember, go for the gut." instructed Jane, "If you really wanna do some damage without leaving a mark, go for the gut!!"_

_Everyone cheered and laughed evilly, Jane then turned to Claudia and placed her hand against the brick wall, just over Claudia's shoulder and she leaned in close, getting nose to nose with Claudia._

_"Got that Claudia, you lure her in, we'll deal with her." said Jane_

_"You know what, I say to make up for getting us in trouble, she take a few hits after we're done." said Cezary._

_"Yes… 6 hits, she got 6 of us in trouble, she deserves it" said Jane._

_"Got it girl, you owe us 6 hits, no more, no less" said Wendy_

_Claudia was terrified of the idea, but even more worried about getting hurt by Wendy or Jane, who would also have no second thoughts about killing her if she didn't obey._

_"A-alright…1:00 A.M., I got it" said Claudia_

* * *

Meanwhile, Jane walked up to Nadine and ran her hand, downwards along her hair, then shuddered in disgust, wiping her hand against her blue sleep shorts. "Gah… ever hear of soap or shampoo, my hand just slide off that hair with no effort on my part."

Nadine struggled to get free, muffled words escaping her gagged mouth.

Wendy walked up and stood next to Jane, taking the green bar of soap out of the towel and putting it up to her nose, smelling it deeply. "Mmmm… smells good, you would to, if you knew how to use it. Well, let me show you something interesting we learned from Jane.", and Wendy put the bar of soap back into the towel and wrapped it tightly.

"Simple bar of soap, plain old white towel… how bad could it be right??" asked Wendy, moving the towel close to Nadine's stomach, then moving it back and taking a few practice swings like a batter in a batters warm up circle.

"Oh, you'd be SURPRISED!!" and with that Wendy drew the towel back and slammed it hard into Nadine's stomach who released a muffled scream and bit down on the rifle strap.

Wendy hit her hard a few more times, then moved aside and everyone else took their hard, painful swings, hitting Nadine in the stomach, ribs, sides, legs and arms. Claudia watching the whole thing in horror.

Jane switched places with Rosina and she took her turns, "That'll teach ya for ratting out my good buddy Cezary, damn dark-hair!!"

Nadine legs had long since given, her head dropped forward against her chest, Jane then looked over at Claudia. "Get over here!!" she said in a angry, hushed whisper. And Claudia slowly walked up to Jane, Wendy placed a white towel in her hand and pushed her the rest of the way.

"Do it!!" cried Wendy, "You owe us."

Claudia held the towel in her right hand but kept looking down at the ground, "Claudia!, do it now!!" hissed Jane

Nadine slowly raised her head, her eyes red and puffy with tears and pain, her cheeks beet red, she shook her head, pleading her not to do it. Claudia's right hand shook, but she still shut her eyes and drew the towel back, hitting Nadine once, twice, all the way up to six times, Nadine releasing a muffled scream with each hit.

Once she was finished, everyone quickly rushed out of the bathroom, Wendy grabbing Claudia by the hand and dragging her along. Jane then moved Nadine to the nearby sinks, propping her up against them and removed the rifle strap from her mouth. She then grabbed a handful of Nadine's hair and yank her head back hard.

"Remember, you were just having a bad dream, Dark-hair!!" and Jane threw Nadine's head forward and ran out of the washroom.

Now free, Nadine held her hands against her stomach and ribs, she was releasing loud sobs of pain, and hurt, emotional as well as physical.

Claudia meanwhile was back in her bunk, blanket up to her chin, head against her pillow. And as she listened to Nadine sobbing and crying out in pain she heard something that caused her heart to ache.

"Why?!, WHY?!?!" wailed Nadine's voice from the bathrooms, amidst plenty of crying and other sobbing.

Claudia knew she was referring to what Claudia did to her, so Claudia brought her hands up to her ears, trying to block out Nadine's cries, she rolled on to her side, hands still against her ears and shut her eyes tight. She remained like that for the rest of the night.


	10. Chapter 10

**_Hey Readers, I decided it's finally time to update this story, I kind of let it fall behind my "Adventures in War" story. And I'll admit, it's stranging writing Nadine in this after... what happened in my other story. But I can't leave this one while my other one is so far ahead!. So enjoy the newest chapter for Just my Luck starring Claudia Mann. As always, read and review :)_**

**Chapter 10- Fates Payback**…

Claudia still had her hands over her ears and barely heard the early morning bugle call being played outside on the loud speakers. But soon, she felt someone hit her in the back.

"Yo, time to get up girl!" said Wendy, snickering and quickly getting dressed.

"Wake up; you can sleep when you're dead." Jane said next as she walked passed Claudia's bunk.

Claudia just rolled on her back and looked up at the top bunk above her, and she still remembered the terrible event that went on last night, mostly thanks to her. For it was her who told Nadine, and Nadine, being as honest and caring as she was, told Faldio what the others did to those poor Imperial soldiers. Also it was Claudia who lured her friend into that trap, to repay the others for snitching.

Claudia sighed "I should have stayed at home…" she thought to herself. For nothing seemed to be going right for her during her entire time in the militia thus far.

She didn't want to get out of bed, for she'd have to face Nadine, her friend, or more likely former friend, after what happened last night.

But she took a deep, nervous breath and rolled out of bed. She then stood up and turned around, but found Nadine's bunk to be empty. She wasn't in her bunk and it was already made.

"What the…" Claudia said softly, she then turned around and scanned the interior of the barracks, but couldn't find her.

Wendy was now dressed and was running past Claudia. But she slapped her on the back, "Come on girl!" Wendy said, "Thought I told you to get up and get dressed 5 minutes ago!" And she departed the barracks, towards the mess hall.

Jane was also dressed and she too was making her way hurriedly past Claudia, "Better hurry up, don't want to be the last one to the mess hall." Jane said and she too left the barracks on her way to the mess hall.

Claudia didn't know what to make of Nadine's disappearance and eventually she got dressed and made her way, alone to the mess hall.

A short while later, she entered the mess hall and saw many Gallian soldiers sitting down, eating their breakfasts. She saw a few familiar faces, such as Jane and Wendy sitting with the group who took part in the beating last night. She also saw Marina sitting alone, as usual, eating and reading a book at the same time. But still didn't see Nadine, so she just sighed and made her way towards the line up, head kept down in sadness and shame.

Just then she bumped into someone, "Oops, sorry, didn't see you there." said a familiar voice.

Claudia raised her head and saw Nadine, but her casual reaction and smile were not what she was expecting to see or hear from her.

Claudia gulped again, her heart rate increasing. "Nadine…I-" but she was cut short by Nadine shaking her head.

"Listen, talk to me after breakfast, alone." she responded and she walked past Claudia, food and tray in hand.

Claudia just nodded her head, "O-ok, a-a-afterwards then…" she said to Nadine's back.

Some soldiers looked at her curiously, causing her to blush as she turned and made her way towards the line up and took her place.

And after she got her food, she looked for a place to sit and it once again seemed all too familiar, like her first day all over again where she wasn't sure where she'd be welcome.

She spotted the same group she embarrassed herself in front of on that particular day and remembered that she wasn't welcome there. So she looked to her left and saw Nadine, sitting with Lynn, Wavy and the other members she met earlier. But she could see them all leaning towards Nadine as her mouth moved, like she was telling a story.

And Claudia's worst thoughts were confirmed when everyone turned and looked at her, giving a glare or look of disappointment. And Claudia immediately knew, that they knew about what she had done to poor Nadine. Now she knew that she also was no longer welcome to sit with them either. She turned her head and spotted Marina close by, but knew she preferred to be alone in all things, so she just sighed again and made her way to an empty table at the back of the room.

But as she was walking, someone reached up and placed their hand on Claudia's shoulder, stopping her in her tracks. "Hey girl, what's the matter?" Jane asked, "Not going to sit with your former roommates?"

Wendy was sitting next to her, eating her breakfast. "Yeah girl, you did good last night, sure impressed the rest of us with how easily you were able to lure that Dark-haired girl in for us." Wendy complimented, snickering with a mouthful of food.

But Claudia shook her head, "I'm sorry… I'd much rather be alone right now if you don't mind." Claudia said and she left Jane, Wendy and the others and continued on.

"Tch… why even bother?" Cezary asked, "I still don't think we're fully even after she told on us."

Jane shook her head as she stirred her scrambled eggs around, "Nah, she just still hasn't learned who she can trust and who she can't. But she'll learn, soon enough, those Darcsens are the last people she should be making friends with."

And at the back of the room, Claudia found and empty table and sat down, looking at the empty seat on her left, then on her right and finally across from her. She sighed sadly and began to scoop scrambled eggs into her mouth, eating friendless and all by herself. Regretting even more now, that she decided to leave home and join the militia.

For life seemed so much simpler when she was a shut in. She had things to preoccupy her time and keep her mind off of the loneliness. But here, she was constantly surrounded by people, good and bad and she was always making so many mistakes with trying to fit in. The social life didn't seem to be the thing for her, she thought as she continued eating alone.

A short while later, she finished faster then the others. As they were sitting, talking and socializing as they ate their breakfasts. But Claudia didn't have anyone to talk to, so without that distraction she finished a lot quicker.

Claudia nervously gathered her tray and garbage and made her way to the back of the mess hall. Finally, after taking care of that, she exited the mess hall and waited on the steps, just outside of the mess hall. And as she waited, she thought long and hard about what she was going to say to Nadine. But try as she might, she couldn't think of a good apology or even a good excuse to explain why she betrayed her.

Eventually, after a few nervous minutes, Nadine came out, with her group of friends. Which consisted of Aisha, Dorothy, Wavy, Lynn, Oscar and Emile. They were happily chatting together, but once Claudia came into view, everyone immediately stopped and paused. They were all giving her displeased looks, like they knew what happened.

Nadine sighed and made her way to the front of the group, then turned to everyone else. "I'll just be a few minutes guys, so go ahead without me." Nadine said and everyone reluctantly nodded and went ahead, but nearly all glared at Claudia as they moved past.

Claudia gulped nervously and walked up to Nadine, "Look Nadine I…" Claudia started, but her heart was beating furiously, sweat forming on her face.

"Don't worry, I'm not mad." Nadine said

This clearly shocked Claudia, "B-but why?" She asked "I would be, after what I did."

Nadine smiled and shook her head, her dark blue hair swaying with her heads movements. "I keep telling you… I'm Darcsen." she replied, "Revenge is not an idea that we follow, nor is holding grudges. We are, after all, together in the same squad. Should we keep up this game of getting back at one another all throughout the war, because I could think of lots of ways to get back at you… but I won't."

"No… no I guess not." said Claudia

"Though I do not agree with what you've done, or the group you hang out with… these are your choices." Nadine said "We Darcsen also believe that every deed done, good or bad, will eventually come back to you in the form of punishment or reward. What you've done… to those poor soldiers and to me… I know you'll have to answer for it later. So I'm not worried about hating you for it, most of all it's against the beliefs of my people, the Darcsens."

Claudia was a little confused "So… we're good then?" she asked

Nadine closed her eyes and shook her head, "No… sadly, I don't think we can be friends anymore. Just know I don't hate you or anything, we just seem to be far too different people."

Claudia lowered her head, "Alright… I understand."

Nadine nodded her head and continued on past Claudia, leaving her alone on the steps of the mess hall.

2 hours later, near noon, Squad 1 was called together for a meeting. Their new mission was to head to the Kloden wildwoods and scout out an Imperial supply base stationed there. No one knew the strength of the garrison or what other things they could expect. But it was vital so the Militia and the Army, to know what they were going to go up against. Everyone knew it would be dangerous, going ahead of the regular army and alone.

But orders were orders, so they went back to their barracks and got ready to move out. And as Claudia was putting on her backpack, she happened to look over at Jane and Wendy. Both seemed eager for their first mission and to kill as many Imperial soldiers as possible.

"I can't wait to get out there!" Jane said, laughing as she put on her body armour.

"I know, I look forward to finally be able to throw some grenades around!" Wendy said next.

Claudia shuddered at the thought of real combat and at Jane and Wendy's eagerness to experience it. She shook that thought away and made her way over to the ammo lockers. Every engineer was given a key to access it anytime they needed, as they were the ones who would need supplies and ammo out of it, more then anyone else.

Each soldier was only given so much ammo for that day. But Wendy and Jane walked up to Claudia as she was taking ammo and supplies out of the nearby ammo lockers.

"Hey girl, can ya spare a few extra grenades and ammo for your former roommates?" Wendy asked.

"Oh… I-I'm not supposed to…" Claudia said, looking around nervously.

"We'll probably need them anyways, so why not give them to us ahead of time." Jane said next, "We're gonna do a lot of shooting after all today."

Once again Claudia was being talked into doing something she didn't want to do. But she finally gave in, but kept a close eye out as she reached into the machine gun ammo and took a few extra clips out and gave them to Wendy and Jane, who quickly concealed them in their pouches. After that, Claudia gave each girl, 3 extra grenades, way more then they were assigned.

"Thank girl!" Wendy said, snickering as always "We owe ya one!"

"We won't forget this favour." Jane said, smiling rather evilly.

Claudia lowered her head, "What am I doing…" she thought sadly. But she gave her head a shake and finally finished gathering what supplies and ammo that she'd need for the day and finally set out.

A few hours later, Squad 1 was deep in the Kloden wildwoods, all the soldiers gathered around their leader's tank.

Faldio then appeared from the turret hatch, took out a pair of binoculars and scanned the area. Birds were chirping, the sun was shining and all seemed peaceful. But it was a rather unsettling feeling, knowing that somewhere out there, the Imperials had a base set up and lots of soldiers in the base or patrolling around the base.

Faldio finally lowered his binoculars and looked at all of his soldiers.

"Alright, split up into groups and fan out." Faldio ordered, "Proceed slowly and with extreme caution, for we don't know what we're up against."

Jane looked at Wendy and nodded her head, she responded with a smile and snicker. The two then began to walk away from the tank, but not before Wendy reached over and grabbed a distracted Claudia by the back of her collar, dragging her along with them.

"Come on girl, you're coming with us, tee-hee." Wendy snickered

Hermes and another scout joined them, Nil Daerden joined them as well, and they followed Wendy and Jane. So the 6 of them set out together. But Claudia looked back and saw Nadine joining another group and heading off in another direction.

"Good luck…" she said quietly.

A few minutes later and deeper in the forest, Claudia and her group proceeded slowly through the tall grass, between trees and waded through bushes. But so far, all was quiet and they had seen nothing. Had it not been a war, it might have been a very peaceful nature hike, with plenty to see and smell.

It was a whole new experience for Claudia, for she had been born and raised in the city. The sounds of car horns blaring, people chattering loudly and the other sounds of the city were replaced by birds chirping, squirrels chattering loudly, wind blowing through the grass and the leaves of trees rustling in the wind.

Claudia walked at the back of the group, a huge smile on her face as she looked around at the beautiful forest landscape. A life completely opposite of what she was used to.

Just then she stopped and giggled as she saw a giant, beautiful butterfly with black and orange wings, flapping and circling all around her head. It then moved in front of her, floating and flapping its wings.

Claudia was so transfixed by this that she stopped walking and ever so slowly began to reach out with her right hand, to touch it.

Suddenly, out of no where, there was gun fire, bullets whizzing past her head, and mortar explosion. The beauty and peace of the forest was taken away in an instant. The birds took to the sky, cawing and screeching in terror, the squirrels scurried back into the tops of the trees and into their nests. But sadly, some of the trees they were in fell over and crashed to the ground after being hit by the exploding mortar blasts. Even the beautiful butterfly was cut into two pieces as a bullet struck it.

Claudia looked forward and saw Wendy and Jane running back to her, "Ambush! Get back Claudia, GET BACK!" Jane screamed as tracer bullets flew past her, some hitting the poor scout on her right side, Hermes got struck in the back of the legs. He fell to the ground in pain, while the other scout hit the ground dead as the others ran towards her.

But Claudia was frozen in place as she looked all around; suddenly remembering that she was in a war, not on a hike after all. And it took Wendy grabbing her by jacket as she ran past to get Claudia to finally get her to move.

The group then ran for a short distance and got behind a large fallen tree and set up behind it. Crouching down low and aiming their guns just over top of the tree and firing into the forest. But try as she might, Claudia couldn't see any sign of the enemy. Just muzzle flashes amidst the bushes, trees and tall grass in the distance. They were out there, but Claudia couldn't pick out any targets to fire at.

Despite that, Jane slapped Claudia in the back of the head. "Shoot! Shoot damn it!" she screamed right into Claudia's ear.

So Claudia raised her rifle up to her shoulder and fired wildly, swinging her rifle left and right as she pulled the trigger and fired into the forest up ahead. But she couldn't tell if she hit anything, and it didn't seem to matter if she did. For there were now, even more muzzle flashes, of all kinds. Evenly paced rifle flashes, quick, rapid machine gun flashes and everything in between. And falling, screeching mortar rounds, falling all around them.

And as Claudia lay on her back, trying to load another clip into her rifle, the portable radio she also carried crackled to life.

"This is Lieutenant Faldio to all groups. Pull back, pull back now! Enemy resistance is far too heavy, there's nothing a single squad can do against this many." said Faldio, in the background it sounded like firecrackers were going off, but it was much worse then that. For it seemed that all the groups, were encountering the same heavy resistance that she and her group were.

Claudia was still fumbling with her ammo clip when Jane reached down and grabbed her, hauling her up to her feet. "Run damn it! RUN!" Jane screamed. Wendy and Nils were already on the move, hauling it back to the squad.

Claudia nodded and began to run, bullets flying past her as she ran, mortar rounds exploding to her left and right as she ducked low and ran.

Just then a tree branch sticking out of a nearby tree scratched Claudia in the side of the head and she winced in pain, but continued to run. But after a few more running strides, she instinctively touched her forehead and found it to be bare, her headband was gone.

"Oh no!" she cried, stopping in her tracks and looking back the way she had come.

Jane also stopped, "Come on Claudia, we've got to get out of here!"

But Claudia remained where she was, she then looked back at Jane "…I'm sorry…" she said, she then turned and was actually running back towards the gunfire and Imperials.

"CLAUDIA!" Jane screamed at Claudia's retreating form, she then looked down at the ground and cursed loudly.

Wendy came running back, "What happened, what happened?" she asked.

"The fool went back… I have no idea why." Jane replied. And the two watched Claudia get further and further away.

Meanwhile Claudia was searching high and low for her headband; it was something she wasn't going to lose, no matter what. But as she waded through a pile of bushes, her backpack got snagged, by the shoulder strap. So she pulled and pulled, but it just got tangled far worse.

"Ah… just my luck!" she cried, cursing her bad luck. Unable to free herself she took off her backpack and tool belt and left them behind as she continued on alone.

The firing seemed to quiet down as she continued to look for her headband. But she heard distant, heavily accented voices yelling all around her, voices of the enemy.

Just then, something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. She turned and saw a long, red piece of fabric flapping in the wind, snagged on a branch.

She smiled when she realized it was her fathers red headband, she had found it at last. And as she walked towards it, everything around her seemed to fade; all other sounds and sights disappearing as she fixed her sights on her headband. She then reached it and walked around it, she breathed a sigh of relief.

She then set her rifle down and worked on very carefully getting it free, without causing any further damage to it. She smiled once again as she finally had it free and in her hands once more.

Just then, from behind her, she heard a man, screaming loudly, growing louder. She was then kicked hard in the back and sent to the ground, getting the wind knocked out of her from the hard fall. She quickly turned and saw an Imperial soldier in grey armour, raising his rifle up and taking aim at her.

But he was then struck with bullets by unseen shooters and fell back, dead before he even hit the ground. Claudia looked back and saw Wendy and Jane making their way back to her.

"Pay attention girl!" Wendy screamed, "You're lucky your roommates still watch over you!"

And all at once, the ferocity of the many blazing guns and exploding rounds returned. Tracer rounds flying past the girls, mortars exploding all around them. Claudia was still slightly dazed as she looked all around from her position on the ground.

"Get up, you idiot!" Jane cried as she fired her machine gun into the trees and bushes.

"Run girl RUN!" Wendy cried, firing, then turning and running, Jane doing the same.

Claudia got up and tried to reach for her rifle, but bullets smacked and pelted the ground all around it, so she left it and ran for her life, her headband still clutched in her right hand as she ran.

Jane and Wendy stopped and turned around, waving Claudia towards them. "This way!" Jane screamed above the gunfire and explosions.

But three large, loud explosions hit the ground between Claudia and Jane and Wendy. Terrified, Claudia cut hard to the left and ran in that direction.

"No, not that way!" Wendy shouted with her hand against her mouth.

Jane shook her head, "She's got to be the stupidest son of a bitch I have ever seen!"

"Let's hope she's at least smart enough to make it back to the squad alive." Wendy said, bullets striking a nearby tree snapped them back to reality.

"Nothing we can do now…" Jane said, both girls then turned and ran back in the direction of the squad.

Meanwhile, Claudia continued to run, but she was so deep in the forest and the trees were so tall that she couldn't tell up from down, or north from south, east to west.

And as she rounded a tree she bumped into something, or rather someone. She stumbled but caught her balance and came face to face with a very scared looking Nadine.

"Not that way!" she cried, grabbing Claudia by the sleeve and pulling her in another direction. A few bullets flew past both of the girls, coming from the direction that Nadine had just come from.

"They're everywhere!" Nadine cried as she ran next to Claudia. She still had all of her engineers gear, and her rifle. But like Claudia, she was alone too.

"Where is everyone!" Claudia cried, referring to her squad mates.

"Everyone on my team is dead!" Nadine shouted back.

Resistance was far heavier then anyone could have anticipated. The Imperials were everywhere in the forest and in far greater numbers then the number of soldiers that squad 1 had.

Just then two mortar rounds exploded a short distance in front of the two girls. Claudia and Nadine both shielded their heads and faces with their hands and cried out in fear at the same time. Claudia then cut right and ran, while Nadine cut left and ran the opposite way.

But Nadine ran for less then a minute before she crashed into someone, that person letting out a grunt of pain. Both Nadine and the stranger then rolled down a nearby hill, and rolled and rolled and rolled down the steep embankment. When the two finally hit the bottom, they both recovered and sat up at the same time.

Nadine gasped in fear upon looking at a young Imperial engineer in grey armour, but he looked just as terrified looking back at her. He then lurched forward and began to scamper on all fours, patting the ground, searching desperately for his lost rifle.

Nadine looked around as she sat on the ground as well, luckily her rifle was right next to her and she picked it up and aimed it at the young soldier.

"Don't move! Don't MOVE!" she ordered.

And the young soldier stopped searching and held his hands up as Nadine kept her rifle trained on him.

Meanwhile, Claudia was still running through the dense forest. She looked over her shoulder occasionally as she ran, whimpering and panting in fear and exhaustion as she ran.

She then turned and began to run up a hill, but she tripped and fell to the ground. She managed to push herself up and continued to run up the hill. And again she tripped at the top of the hill, and again she pushed herself up and tried to run again. But this time, she ran into something solid and nearly fell back.

But when she looked back up, she gasped in fear. For she had run straight into a tall, stern looking, Imperial soldier in red armour. She looked past him and saw the rest of his unit emerging from the nearby bushes and tall grass, walking towards her. There was no way she could run now, for she was far outnumbered and surrounded.

Her breathing was escaping her mouth in short, panicked gasps as she looked up at the tall Imperial officer in red. He looked back at her with emotionless, cold eyes. He was so close Claudia could see his dark green eyes and some black hair sticking out from under his helmet, he looked much older then the men of his squad and had a short, black moustache under his nose and black facial hair on his chin.

"Hands up Gallian." he said in some kind of heavy eastern Europan accent, possibly one from the Empire. The rest of his unit formed up on either side of him. Claudia backed away one step and shook her head; she was far too scared to respond.

"HANDS UP!" The officer screamed.

And without even thinking, Claudia automatically raised her hands up and remained still.

The officer then turned to the men of his unit, "Search her." he ordered and the other Imperial soldiers moved forward and began to dig into her jacket and pants pockets. They recovered a few spare ammo clips, her identifying papers and some other unimportant items like gum, her wallet and a hair brush and tossed those to the ground.

As they searched, Claudia tried to scrunch up her father's headband into her hand, to conceal it and keep it from getting confiscated as well. But the Imperial officer noticed and grabbed Claudia's hand with his right, and pried her fist open with his left and took it from her.

Claudia tried to make a grab for it, but was pushed back by another Imperial soldier and forced back into her original position of hands up and remaining still.

Meanwhile the officer unfolded Claudia's red headband looking at it, turning it over and over.

"What is this, Gallian?" he asked, dangling it in front of her face.

"It's… personal." Claudia responded, "Very personal."

"I think it goes great with your uniform sir!" One Imperial soldier said.

And indeed he was right. The red matched the colour of his armour. So the Imperial officer nodded and wrapped the headband around his knuckles and kept it. Meanwhile, another Imperial soldier was looking at Claudia with an intense stare.

"Say… doesn't this girl look like a Darcsen to any of you?" he asked

"What?" asked another, "A Dark-hair?"

He then reached forward and grabbed Claudia hard from under the chin and turned her head towards him.

"Dark blue eyes… dark coloured hair. She very well could be." he stated.

"I hate Darcsens!" said another, and he loaded pulled the bolt back on his rifle and took aim at Claudia. "Let's just shoot her!"

"I gave no such order!" the officer in red shouted above the rest. He then slowly walked towards Claudia, never breaking eye contact. "How bout it? Are you a Darcsen, girl?"

Claudia quickly shook her head, denying it.

"Let me see her papers!" he ordered and they were very quickly handed to him. He opened the small book and quickly skimmed over her information.

"Claudia Mann… from the Militia… Squad 1..." he said, he flipped the pages until he came to the end. "No, she's not a Darcsen from what I can tell. And she's not the squad we were looking for; she's not from Militia Squad 7."

He then looked at her once more, "What class are you?" he asked

Claudia's eyes couldn't take his gaze anymore so she looked down and whimpered and didn't respond. But a soldier from behind her did.

"She's an engineer, sir!" he said, after looking at her Engineer symbol on the high of her back near her shoulders.

"Engineer… where's all your gear. We could use your equipment for our own cause." said the Officer.

"I… I lost it…" Claudia responded, hands still held up in surrender.

The officer shook his head, "That's too bad."

"What are we going to do with her sir?" one of the soldiers asked.

"She doesn't seem to be of much use to us. No weapon, no gear, no nothing." said another from behind her.

The officer shook his head, "We'll take her back to base, I'm sure we could find some use for her." said the officer. And with that he reached forward and grabbed Claudia and roughly moved her in front of him. He then kicked her hard in butt, causing her to fall forward. "Move Gallian!" he ordered.

The rest of his soldiers formed up behind her and on both sides, two of the soldiers taking pointed as they made their way back to base.

"Faster, walk faster!" the officer ordered as he pushed Claudia from behind, making her almost lose her footing as she walked with her hands up in the air, soldiers surrounding her from all sides.

A short while later, one of the soldiers walking next to her, reached into his pants pocket and took out a cigarette, put it in his mouth and lit it. He then dug another one out of his pack, held it out to Claudia and grinned, a rather evil looking grin.

"Cigarette?" he asked.

And Claudia's heart froze, for she remembered Nadine's words. "_Every deed done, good or bad will eventually come back to you in the form of punishment or reward. What you've done… to those poor soldiers and to me… I know you'll have to answer for it later_"

Was this it, was this Claudia's punishment for taking part in that prisoner massacre and for beating up poor Nadine. If so, it was a perfectly fitting one, for she was now in the same place of those poor soldiers that her group had slaughtered. A prisoner of the Empire…


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11- Faces of the enemy**

Claudia and her escort had finally arrived at the Imperial supply base, located deep within the Kloden Wildwoods. But as they got closer, Claudia noticed that it was a lot smaller then she had first expected it to be. There were Just a few small sheds and what looked like tank or supply hangers, a troop barracks and a small prisoner holding pen, that looked only to be recently built. All of this was surrounded by a high chain link fence.

The front gates were then opened and Claudia and her group entered, she was still surrounded on all sides by Imperial soldiers. And once inside they walked a short distance towards the prisoner pen, passing Imperial soldiers all along the way. But as they passed, Claudia was getting a lot of whistles from the on looking soldiers. More soldiers came from around the sheds and out from barracks to take a look at the new, quite attractive prisoner.

Claudia blushed brightly, while still holding her hands up and looked down at the ground. Her cheeks turned redder and redder as she continued walking, with many of the soldiers inside the base still whistling, whooping or shouting embarrassing remarks about her.

"Woo~! What a pretty prisoner we have here!" shouted one soldier sitting at a small table with two other men, both of whom were whistling and grinning at Claudia.

"I call dibs on her first!" shouted one officer in red.

Claudia's heart skipped a beat, "_What does he mean by that… oh no_…" Claudia thought to herself, it didn't even take a second for her to realize the horror of what they were talking about… possibly rape.

One of the soldiers next to her jabbed her in the back with his rifle and she looked back at him, "I'm next!" he said in a hushed whisper.

Claudia looked forward again and shuddered in disgust. Maybe it would have been better to have been shot out there in the last battle, than to have to suffer this terrible fate. And who knows what else might happen in this place that she was now in, among the enemy. Rape might not be the worst thing, what if they tortured her for information or for fun.

Claudia closed her eyes and shook her head, "_I wish they'd just shoot me… my life couldn't possibly get any worse than this_." Claudia thought to herself.

She had already lost her family and her home to the Imperials at the start of the war. And also recently lost all of her friends, due to her mistakes that she had made in the past.

Claudia didn't even notice that the men who were escorting her had come to stop, but she soon realized that when she walked straight into the tall Imperial officer in red from behind. Causing him look back and glare at her, he then drove his elbow back swiftly, right into her stomach. Claudia gasped as the wind was knocked out of her and dropped to her knees, coughing, gasping for air and clutching her stomach with her hands.

"Hey Hey!" shouted a deep, but almost romantic sounding voice, "That's no way to treat a lady."

"Sorry General Jaeger sir." the officer said next.

Claudia was still coughing and holding her stomach, but she also heard parting footsteps, like the men around her were moving away from her. So she looked up while gasping for air and she saw a gloved hand extended out to her, offering to help her up. But with the position of the sun, the helpful man, whoever he was, was blocked out by the blinding light from the sun that was just behind his back.

But Claudia reached out and took the stranger by the hand and was helped up to her feet. And she immediately blushed once she saw the face of the kind, helpful man.

He was tall, darker-skinned than the other Imperial soldiers in the base, had long dark brown hair pulled back into a small ponytail and a bearded chin. He wore black pants and boots, and what looked like partial black armour around his torso and on his right arm. On his right shoulder was the skull of some kind of horned animal. But what she really noticed was that he was also quite handsome, though Claudia's life as a shut-in didn't give her many times to see many boys, much less men up close and personal like this. Maybe just some handsome boys or men walking past her house as she looked down at them from her bedroom window, inside her house before this whole war.

"Greetings young lady." said the kind officer and he took Claudia by the hand and bent down, kissing the top of her hand softly. Not unlike what Hermes did when he first introduced himself to her. But this kiss to the top of her hand didn't disgust her, like Hermes kiss did. He then stood back up, smiling brightly at her.

He then wrapped his arm around Claudia and began to walk with her, "Welcome to the Imperial supply base." he said while waving his arm from the left to the right, showing Claudia the base.

Claudia looked back at the officer and his group, but they were already leaving. The officer still had her father's headband wrapped around his right hand and it broke her heart to be separated from it.

She didn't notice that Jaeger was still talking to her, giving her the tour until she heard "Miss, miss, are you listening?"

Claudia looked back at him, while bowing her head. "Sorry, you were saying?" Claudia said.

"I was just saying that this is where we keep Gallian prisoners." Jaeger said, pointing to the small prisoner pen, which already had 10 people inside. They were the militia soldiers that were captured in the attack that squad 1 had made.

Just then three heads from inside raised up, two of the soldiers standing up, but the third was unable to, due to a leg wound.

"Claudia!" said Cezary, looking at her wide eyed.

"Claudia?" Mica Hawkins asked.

"Hey Beautiful…" said Hermes weakly, still the charmer, even in these bleak circumstances.

"Oh… Claudia is it?" asked Jaeger, turning and smiling down at her. "What a pretty name."

"T-thanks… sorry I didn't mention it before sir." Claudia said, still keeping with the military formalities of calling higher ranking officers 'sir'. And this Jaeger was almost as high as one could go, being the rank of General, even though he was from the Imperial army.

"Hmm, polite and proper. That's nice to see and hear." Jaeger complimented. Jaeger then rubbed his chin and thought for a while. "You know what; I don't think it's proper to keep a lady in here, so come with me."

And Jaeger started walking towards one of smaller buildings at the back of the base; Claudia paused and looked at the soldiers inside. All were male and all were from Squad 1, which meant that more then half of her squad was either captured or dead. More importantly, Nadine wasn't inside, so it might have meant that she had either escaped… or was killed.

But Claudia opted to think that Nadine had successfully escaped and that made her smile. At least she might be safe… then again, Claudia had heard the Imperial soldiers threaten to kill Claudia outright, because they suspected her of being Darcsen. Is that what they did to Darcsen prisoners, just kill them right away and not bring them back to base?

But something snapped her back to reality, "Hey! You coming or not?" Jaeger shouted from a short distance away.

But as she started to walk away, Cezary stuck one of his arms through the bars, out towards Claudia. "Get us out of here!" he begged, "Do something!"

One of the Imperial guards standing near the pen struck Cezary hard in the stomach with the wooden butt end of his rifle, through the bars. He fell forward, clutching his stomach and coughing and gasping for air.

"I'm sorry… there's nothing I can do…" Claudia said hopelessly, she then left her fellow squad mates and ran to catch up with this General Jaeger, who was being extremely kind to her. Once he saw that she was coming, he smiled and continued on. But once he went into the small building at the back of the base, Claudia stopped once again. Now she was really scared, she didn't know what would happen if she went in. And it might just be the two of them in there, the thought of being raped crept back into her mind and she hesitated.

Jaeger then stuck his head out the door, "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. I promise!"

For some reason, Claudia believed him. So she took a deep breath and finally entered the building after a few tense seconds. Once inside she saw what looked to be a small office, complete with a writing desk, maps and other paperwork, a table with some chairs around it, and tucked in the corner, a small single bed.

Jaeger then turned to Claudia, "You can have my quarters, a lady should not have to sleep outside in the cold of night." he said with a smile.

Claudia held her hands up and shook her head, "Oh n-no, t-t-that's quite alright…" she stuttered.

"Don't worry; I'll be sleeping outside, with my men. It's located just around the corner if you'd like to see." he said, opening the door for her.

Claudia didn't know what to do, or why he was being so nice to her. But she didn't want to be outside either, not with all those Imperial soldiers who were just drooling over her moments ago. But in here, she felt safe and secure; she even seemed to be starting to trust this Jaeger person.

"Alright, I'll stay in here… if it's alright with you." she said, standing with her hands behind her back, rubbing the floorboards with the toe of her right boot nervously.

"Excellent, wait right here and I'll be back in a moment with some food and water. You look completely famished!" Jaeger said, turning and exiting his personal quarters, moments later walking by the side window of the building.

Claudia scratched her head, "_What's up with that guy_?" she thought.

She still didn't know what to make of him, since most of the Imperials she had meet weren't very nice, or were very deceptive in the case of Mikhail a few days before. But Claudia gave her head a shake and wrapped her arms around her body and slowly walked up to the side window, gazing out. She saw some Imperial soldiers walking in groups around the base, a small group of about four or five soldiers were playing cards just outside the supply shed across from her. One of the soldiers noticed her and blew a kiss and waved to her, the other's looked back and also grinned and waved.

Claudia blushed bright red and stepped away from the window, backing up against the wall behind her, "_Just my luck… I'm the only female in the entire base… what are the odds_."

* * *

A short while later, Jaeger returned with two platefuls of delicious looking food and a canteen of water around his neck. He made his way over to the table near the bed and set the plates down, then took a seat at the table across from Claudia. Claudia took the other plateful of food and sat on the bed, but she backed all the way up until she was in the far corner, keeping her distance from Jaeger. But he just smiled and began to scoop food into his mouth.

"Don't worry; you have nothing to fear from me." Jaeger said, "Where I come from, we treat women with only the utmost respect."

Claudia was still confused, "You mean from the Empire?" she asked curiously.

Jaeger closed his eyes and smiled while shaking his head back and forth, "No, from Fhirald, my home country. It's a beautiful green country, far from here."

Claudia nodded as she scooped in some fried potatoes and savoured the flavour; it was a welcome change from the standard military rations that she had eaten since she enlisted into the militia. "So… it's part of the Empire then?"

Jaeger shook his head once again, "No, it was conquered by the Empire not long after the war started." Jaeger said, leaning back in his chair and looking off into the distance, as if recalling past memories. "Our country was small, like Gallia. But we were no match for the military might of the Empires armies. But still, I for my country with everything that I had, to defend it from the Imperial invaders. But I failed… despite all my knowledge and specialty for strategy I failed to defend my home."

Claudia began to feel sorry for him as she continued eating on the bed, nodding every now and then along with his story. "But then the strangest thing happened… I was taken to the commander of the invasion force, a Lord Maximillian. And he spared my life… in exchange for serving him in this invasion of another peaceful, beautiful green country."

Claudia nodded again, "I'm sorry to hear that, you seem to be a very decent and honourable man."

"I may be fighting for the Empire, but I still carry my countries beliefs and values with me." Jaeger responded.

* * *

The conversation then continued for many hours, Claudia telling Jaeger of her past, him of hers. The light of day was fading away, the bases inner light were starting to come up and light up the bases surrounding buildings.

Jaeger and Claudia were still talking when Jaeger finally looked outside and saw how dark it was getting. "Oh my, it's getting late." Jaeger said as he stood up, walked to the window and looked out and about. He then turned back to Claudia. "It was nice talking to you, but I'll let you get some sleep. Just make yourself at home. And even though I know you probably won't do it, I'll just say it anyway. Please don't try and sneak out of the base at night. I'm the only Fhirlandian here; the Imperials seem to have less respect for women and the treatment of prisoners than I do."

Claudia nodded, "Yeah, I figured that. Don't worry, I won't. I promise."

Claudia then bent down and began to untie her boots, while Jaeger looked down at her and smiled. But he quickly shook his head and turned to walk towards the door. "_Get a hold of yourself, she may look like her… but she's not. She's dead, you know that!_" Jaeger told himself.

He then opened the door, but before he left he turned to her once more and smiled. "Sleep well Claudia, I'll see you in the morning." Jaeger said. He then left, softly closing the door behind himself.

Claudia nodded her head, "_He's not so bad and he's treated me so kindly… maybe my luck is finally changing_…" Claudia said softly as she removed her uniform jacket, revealing her black undershirt.

She then lay down in the bed, pulling the covers up to her chin. But she did feel a little bit sad for the others from her squad, who were sleeping outside in that prisoner pen. Her eyes then slowly closed and she drifted off to a sound sleep, warm and comfy in the kind General Jaegers bed.

* * *

It was early the next morning when Claudia was awoken by the Imperial trumpet being played outside on the loud speakers, used as the morning call. Claudia just rolled over and groaned, forgetting for a moment just where she was. But she bolted up right in the bed as soon as she remembered everything. She was a prisoner, in General Jaeger's personal quarters, inside the very base they were sent to scout out yesterday afternoon.

But at least she was being treated fairly. Being well fed and well cared for by the General Jaeger she had just met the other day. Claudia then sat up, put her feet into her boots and bent down to tie them up. As soon as they were done up, she heard a knock on the door.

"Just a minute!" she said, she then quickly found her jacket and put it back on, quickly button up the buttons. She then quickly ran her fingers through her hair, trying to straighten her long black hair out.

"Alright, you can come in!" she called out.

She smiled once she saw that it was General Jaeger once again. And again he had two plates of food and drink with him. "Thought you might like some breakfast before you get started today's work."

Claudia took one of the plates from him as she sat on the bed, "Today's work?" she asked.

"Yeah, just some light work." Jaeger said, taking the same seat at the table that he did last night. "We've got some sandbag defences that need to be constructed at the forward lookout point, as well as some maintenance inside the base. Usually work of the prisoners we've collected."

"I see." said Claudia, scooping some scrambled eggs into her mouth with a fork.

"You're an engineer right?" Jaeger asked.

"Yes, I am." Claudia replied.

Jaeger smiled upon hearing this, "Well then, you can stay here and work on my tank if you don't mind." Jaeger said, pointing with his fork out the window. Claudia got up and walked to the window, food and plate still in hand, she was still chewing on eggs as she looked out, at the tank hanger not far from them. Her eyes grew wide as she saw General Jaeger's tank. It was enormous, and looked like it could decimate any tank it fought against.

"You want me… to work on that?" Claudia asked

"You've never worked on a tank before?" Jaeger asked.

"Well… not yet, but I know how." Claudia said, somewhat of a lie, she had only read about tank maintenance. And she had only worked on a few jeeps and some other military vehicles during her short time of service in the militia.

"Excellent, we'll start as soon as we're finished eating!" Jaeger said excitedly.

Claudia returned to the bed and sat down once more, but a burning question was in her mind. "I was wondering… how come you're treating me so kindly? Better then the other prisoners?" she asked, "Not that I'm ungrateful, just curious."

Jaeger smiled, "My previous explanation wasn't good enough?" he asked with a chuckle.

Claudia just shrugged her shoulders as she continued eating.

Jaeger set his plate down and sighed, air escaping his nostrils as he did. "Alright, truth be told. You… remind me of someone I used to know; ironically she was an Engineer in my tank division. She had beautiful long black hair and amazing blue eyes, much like you do."

Claudia blushed, nearly choking on her food. "Oh… I see." she said.

"Cassandra was her name, very close sounding to your name as well," Jaeger continued, "But, she was killed, along with much of my division during the invasion of Fhirald. We weren't lovers, but I always had a crush on her. I wanted to tell her how I felt, but my duty to my country came first. Or so I told myself, and before I could tell her how I feel about her... she died. I regret that decision to this very day."

Suddenly there was a knock on the door, causing both Claudia and Jaeger to jump in surprise. Jaeger quickly stood up and went to answer the door. Once it was open, Claudia saw a soldier in black armour salute him, but at the same time look like he was out of breath as he panted and sweated.

"Sir… just got word…" the soldier said, huffing and puffing.

Jaeger waited, but saw that the news looked urgent, "What is it soldier?" he asked in a serious tone.

"It's Major General Gregor sir, he's coming here. He'll be here very shortly sir!" the soldier said, "He's re-taking command of the base."

"So… the Devil of the Empire is coming back here… great." Jaeger said with a sigh.

This made Claudia nervous, for the very name of this new General sounded pure evil. Like an extreme opposite to the kind, honourable General Jaeger she had just met. But she had little time to worry for Jaeger had turned back to Claudia, this time with a serious look on his face.

"Stay here, and try and keep out of sight." he said, walking out the front door and closing it behind him.

It was only now that Claudia noticed just how much her hand was trembling as the fork she was holding rattled and clanked against her plate. So she set it down and began to rub her hands nervously together, trying to calm herself. But less then a minute had passed before she heard what sounded like a jeep enter the base. And even though she was told to stay hidden, she carefully made her way over to the window and pressed her back against the wall next to it. The window was slightly open, so she could hear the jeep door open next, followed by multiple feet stamping to attention, and followed by Jaeger shouting "Salute!"

And ever so carefully, Claudia peered through the window from the side, trying her best to keep most of her face hidden. But the man she saw sent a chill down her spine. He was dressed in a black high ranking officer's uniform, completely with a black and red cape and black and gold cap. His face was pale, his eyes emotionless and cruel looking, and a set of rectangular glasses on were his face. He also walked with a cane and a slight limp in one of his legs.

All the soldiers in the base were standing at attention, saluting him, including Jaeger who was at the front of everyone else. Major General Gregor didn't return the salute as he walked up to him, instead he asked with a cold tone, "What's the situation?"

"Not much to report sir." Jaeger said, "We've encountered slight resistance yesterday afternoon from a single militia squad. But we suffered very few casualties and no tanks were lost to the enemy." Jaeger said.

"And you drove them all back?" Gregor asked.

"We… took 11 prisoners sir. They're here with us right now." Jaeger said.

Gregor's expression turned to one of slight anger, "I thought I gave orders to take no prisoners, these supplies and provisions are for his majesties soldiers and are not to be wasted on such lowly forms of life such as militia prisoners. Who aren't even worth of the title of soldier, they're farmers, peasants and children with rifles."

"But sir… there are rules of war that-" Jaeger started before Gregor cut him off with a loud stamp of his cane against the ground.

"I don't care!" he said with a sharp tone, "Those rules shouldn't apply to the militia. I can't stand those sorry excuses for soldiers."

Jaeger just closed his eyes and smiled a slight smile, "Yes sir, so what should we do with them then sir?"

Gregor shut his eyes and released only the slightest of chuckles, "Shoot them." he ordered coldly.

Jaegers re-opened his eyes and looked surprised, but he none the less nodded his head, "As you wish, but I don't think his majesty would agree with this decision."

Gregor just shook his head and went off in another direction with a group of soldiers, while Jaeger was walking with his soldiers back to the building where Claudia was.

Meanwhile inside Claudia's breathing had all but stopped, her heart beating hard in her chest, "_Shoot them… shoot them_…" played over and over in her head. How could he say that so calmly, but coldly? Is this why he was called the devil of the battlefield? Because he had no emotions or anything that resembled them and was as cold, cruel and evil as a demon or devil?

Just then Jaeger re-entered the building, shaking his head back and forth. He then looked over at Claudia with such sad eyes, "I'm sorry my dear… but I cannot oppose him." Jaeger said, "Once again, I'm going to have to put the needs of my country over my personal feelings."

Claudia shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes. "No! No you can't be serious!" Claudia cried, "He can't do something like that!"

"He's done far worse things my dear." Jaeger said, "I was only recently sent her, to look after the base while he's been in charge of the Darcsen hunts and forced labour at Fouzen for awhile now. His cruelty is known among all Darcsens I'd wager."

One of Gregors higher ranking officers then appeared from behind Jaeger, "The execution squad has been gathered. Round up the prisoners now, once that's completed you're ordered to lead them out of the base and execute them all." the officer said.

"Understood." Jaeger said, he then turned back to Claudia, "I'm sorry…" he said before grabbing her by the arm and pulling her along with him towards the prisoner pen.

* * *

Soon all the prisoners were gathered, and lined up in a single file line, hands tied behind their backs. There were Imperial soldiers on either side of the prisoners, with Jaeger was leading at the front. But he hesitated, long enough for Gregor to take notice.

"Move!" he growled.

But Jaeger lowered his head and shook it back and forth, "No…" he said. "I will not lead this detail."

Gregor didn't have time to protest, he had other duties to attend to that day. All he did was look over at the officer next to him and nodded; he saluted Gregor and ran up to the front of the line, taking over Jaegers position. Once he did, he ordered everyone to march.

But thought Jaeger wasn't leading the detail, he followed with some of his men at the back of the prisoner escort. As they walked, Claudia would from time to time, look back at him. But now he avoided all eye contact, only looking at her when she wasn't looking.

A short while later, the prisoners and their escort had reached a large ditch at the side of the dirt road. There were large forest trees that stood on either side of the dirt road. But what Claudia saw nearly made her throw up her breakfast. Inside the pit, there were many dead Gallian soldiers, regular and militia. Various stages of decay were already showing on the bodies of the dead. Some looked like they were shot in the backs only a few days ago, others from long before. And the smell was unbearable.

Jaeger was with his men, a little ways behind the prisoners and their executioners. And this time, he actually looked Claudia in the eye when she looked back at him. But her gaze was interrupted when the first 5 prisoners were separated from the group and knelt down at the top of the sloping ditch, hands still behind their backs. By some stroke of luck, Claudia wasn't in the first group, but was just 1 person away from getting picked.

Most of the guards had left to take up shooting positions directly behind the tied up prisoners.

And as Claudia looked on at the poor souls who had their heads down, eyes closed, she slowly reached with one of her tied up hands to her long sleeved jacket, near the wrist. Carefully retrieving a small, tucked away knife she had hidden inside her sleeve, the same knife she had on her breakfast plate that same morning.

The first group of prisoners consisted of Cezary and four other soldiers she had not gotten the chance to know, maybe for the better.

The officer in black retrieved his sword from his sheath and placed it against his shoulder. He looked at the prisoners, then to his soldiers.

"Ready!" he shouted, all the Imp soldiers raised their rifles up to their shoulders. Claudia at the same time beginning to carefully, but quickly saw away at the ropes that bound her hands together.

"You can't do this you Bastards!" Cezary screamed, but still trembling in fear.

"Aim!" all the soldiers looked down the iron sights of their rifles, aiming at the prisoners backs. Claudia was almost finished cutting through the ropes that held her hands together.

"Damn you all… I'll see you all in hell!" Cezary said, spitting on the ground in anger.

"FIRE!" and the early morning quiet was cut by multiple, echoing gunshots going off at once, causing birds to caw and take to the skies. Claudia averted her eyes, just barely escaping seeing the carnage in front of her. Jaeger also turned around and held his hand against his forehead.

Claudia's binds were now cut and luckily no one noticed, she lowered her head, "_Forgive me Father, but I'd rather die trying to escape, then be executed without a fight_."

And with that, Claudia opened her eyes and side checked the guard next to her, knocking him over and took off running away from the prisoner escort, down a small dirt road leading away from the base.

The officer in black noticed right away, "Halt HALT!" shouted the officer in black, pointing to her with his sword.

Jaeger still had his back turned, but one of his soldiers called for him, "Jaeger!"

General Jaeger turned around and saw Claudia running for her life. He walked a few steps forward, a smile spreading across his face at the sight of this girl's bravery and courage. One of his soldiers next to him shook his head, "She's just committed suicide." he said, "There's nothing out that way but more Imperial soldiers."

Jaegers attention went back to the officer in black, now that he saw that Claudia had failed to obey he waved his sword forward, "Shoot her, shoot her!"

All the Imp soldiers obeyed, turning and aiming their rifles at her and began to fire at Claudia's retreating form, gunshots going off one after the other. But Claudia wasn't giving them a steady target to fire at as she moved to the left and right while running.

Soon she was clear of the trees and was running along a dirt road with a lake to her right side. But her eyes opened wide in horror once she saw a small Imperial forward defence camp set up on the other side of the lake. Clearly the soldiers had heard the gunfire just seconds ago and all had gathered along the side of the lake, raising their rifles up to their shoulders and taking aim at her from afar.

Claudia breathed hard and pushed herself to run faster. She was out in the open, no cover and had a small cliff side to her left, Imperials behind her, Imperials and a lake to her right, her only escape route was forward, so she ran with all she was worth.

She even kept her eyes forward as she heard the numerous gunshots going off to her right and followed by the sounds of the bullets whizzing past her face or striking the ground at her feet or the rock side to her left.

* * *

And on the other side of the river, the Imperial soldiers were firing at her repeatedly, but none were able to hit her.

"What the hell shoot straight damn it!" an officer in red ordered to his men along the river bank, the same one who had her headband from before.

But as they continued to fire at her, some began laughing.

"How the hell are we missing!" one shouted, laughing and ejecting his spent magazine from his rifle, then reaching back to retrieve another.

"I don't know, but I'll bet I hit her first!" shouted another.

One shook his head in frustration as he fired his last shot, "Damn it… that's impossible!"

How could everyone miss a single girl so many times, it was like she had an invisible shield that protected her from the Imp bullets they thought.

* * *

Meanwhile, Claudia was running out of breath, but she was almost past the lake. Maybe once she got past that, she'd be safe when she got back inside the forest. But those hopes were crushed as she neared the treeline, she even cried out in anger when she saw 4 more Imperial soldiers appear from the nearby tree line, forward sentry soldiers that she didn't see or even know were there.

But as Claudia came to a stop, she was surprised to find that they didn't shoot her. Instead they were laughing and clapping, and from across the lake Claudia heard even more clapping, cheering and whistling. She looked, only to be shocked at the sight of the Imperial soldiers with their rifles raised up in the air, cheering and waving to her.

She looked back at the soldier in front of her. "That was bloody amazing!" one of the Imp soldiers complimented.

"I've never seen anything like that in my life!" said the other.

One was shaking his head, "I've never even heard of something like that happening before."

Claudia shook her head, frustrated that she had run all that way and dodged all those bullets only to be captured once again.

Just then one of the soldiers radios buzzed against his hip, "Report, has the girl been killed yet?" asked the officer in black's voice.

The soldier was chuckling as he raised the radio up to his lips, "Hehehe… no sir. She's still alive and well, not even one bullet has hit her. But don't worry sir; we've got her right here."

"Is that so… send her back. She won't make it through a second time I'll wager." the officer ordered.

The soldiers looked at each other and grinned, then turned to Claudia, raising their rifles and sub machine guns up.

"You heard the man, start running!" one of the soldiers said.

The soldiers on the other side of the lake had also heard the transmission and were shouting at the tops of their lungs.

"Send her back!" one shouted.

"Let's see if your lucky enough to last a second round!" another added.

Claudia was starting to get angry, she wasn't going to run just to amuse the Imperial soldiers and make a sport out of trying to see who could shoot her first. She was genuinely trying to escape, not be a source of entertainment for the bored Imperial soldiers.

But she just sighed and shrugged, either was she was going to be shot. "Fine by me…" she finally said, turning on her heels and looking back down the road that she had just run, leading back to the supply base. She lowered her head and sighed, then opened her eyes and looked forward once again.

* * *

Meanwhile Jaeger and the rest of the prisoners and Imperial escort soldiers had come from the cover of the trees to watch the spectacle. Jaeger standing in front of his soldiers dressed in black armour, his arms crossed over his chest, chuckling after seeing that she had successfuly made it through all that gunfire unharmed.

"She has to be the luckiest girl I have ever seen in my entire life!" Jaeger said aloud, his soldiers nodding in agreement.

* * *

But Claudia just shook her head before she took off in a full sprint back the way she had come. The soldiers on the opposite side of the river all raised their rifles up at the same time and took aim, Jaeger's smiled faded at the same time, his arms coming uncrossed as he took a step or two forward, and his eyes were shifting back and forth from Claudia to the Imperial soldiers located across the lake from her. He admired her bravery, but knew that this was most likely it for the girl, her luck had finally run out. Making it through unharmed once was a miracle, but twice was probably never going to happen. But he watch on, maybe even hoping she'd make it... somehow.

And this time Claudia didn't weave or do anything to try and avoid being hit, she just ran in a straight line. And as she took a few more running strides she even closed her eyes, as a tear ran down her cheek. "_Just… let it be quick_…" Claudia prayed as she ran with her eyes closed.

Not even a second later the air was filled with multiple gunshots going off at one after the other, the bullets whizzing past her the next instance. And she could hear how close they sailing past her face, head and body, but she didn't feel the piercing hot sting of being shot just yet.

Further up the road the officer in black and the rest of his group were all laughing at Claudia as she was running and getting shot at.

"She hasn't even got her eyes open!" one soldier shouted.

"Bet you 20 ducats she falls within the next 5 seconds." another said.

"Nah, next 10 seconds." another replied.

But on the other side of the lake, most of the soldiers were out of ammo and in the process of loading another clip into their rifles. But just then the squad's sniper appeared with his long rifle with scope in hand, walking up to the edge of the lake and taking aim at her.

"Don't worry boys, I've got her!" he said, bringing his eye up to the scope and centering the crosshair's directly over her as she continued running. He followed her movements with his rifle, slowly swinging to the left along with her. His index finger then began to wrap around the trigger, and a single, loud, echoing gunshot rang out… and the Imperial sniper fell to the side, a bullet hole in the side of his skull. His limp body rolling into the lake moments later, the other Imp soldiers didn't even have time to be stunned before a mortar explosion went off, right in the middle of their camp. Over half of the soldiers inside the camp were thrown sky high by the blast, their bodies crashing into the lake seconds later as they came back down.

And it was the explosion that made Claudia stop running and drop to her knees, for it was different from the gunshots and exploded far from her. And upon looking back, she saw the most welcome sight she could ever hope to see. Emerging from the forest, were dozens of Gallian militia soldiers, all running towards Claudia. Their guns a blazing, all of them shouting, cheering and whooping as they ran forward, firing at the remaining Imps on the far side of the lake. And what remained of the Imperial soldiers were caught with their pants down, they still hadn't reloaded after taking their potshots at Claudia and were without cover now.

As Claudia looked around at her saviours, she saw three snipers, two male and one female that were firing forward, each took out an Imperial soldier who were guarding the remaining Gallian prisoners from squad 1. Two of the young male snipers she didn't recognize, but remarkably, the third and female sniper was Squad 1's very own Marina Wulfstan.

Claudia was too shocked at her extreme change of luck that she couldn't even move from off the ground as friendly soldiers were running past her, firing at the Imps ahead of and across the lake from them. And finally Marina approached Claudia, but didn't say anything as she just looked down at her. Finally she reached down and grabbed Claudia by the jacket and tugging her aside, to allow a massive tank to pass by. This tank was bigger than any other tanks she had seen from the Gallian army or militia, also, flapping high on a pole attached to the top turret, was a blue, red and white flag. The thing that made Claudia smile the most was the number; the number on the flapping flag was 7, Lucky 7. Squad 7 had finally come to rescue her and the other prisoners. Out of all the squads who could have rescued them, it just had to be lucky Squad 7.

Meanwhile, back where the prisoners were, all of the guards had been sniped from a distance, including the officer in black. He now had a gaping hole in his forehead, from a well placed bullet fired by Marina. The rest were falling back, but Jaeger remained with his men, hiding behind a large tree. He looked at Claudia, still on the ground and grinned while shaking his head in disbelief.

"Sir! Sir! What should we do, we're outnumbered?" asked one of his soldiers in black armour.

Jaeger shook his head, "What can we do… our soldiers expended most of their ammo trying to hit that one single girl. The enemy outnumber us, and I am a tank commander without a tank. This is a surprising change of events."

"What are your orders sirs?" another anxious soldier asked.

Jaeger sighed deeply, "Retreat, all forces retreat!" he yelled.

* * *

Back where Claudia was hiding. Marina was staying next to Claudia, both crouched down behind a fallen tree. She was still firing at distant enemies. She didn't say anything as Claudia sat next to her, but she was still protecting her. Quite surprising considering that she was always so quiet before and showed no real interest in protecting her from Wendy and Jane all the time they were roommates. Claudia had thought that she didn't care for her at all, but was wrong.

Finally a medic was called forward; she had blonde hair, emerald green eyes and looked to be quite young. She knelt down in front of Claudia, medical pouch at the ready and looked her over. But despite there being no visible wounds, she still had an extremely shocked look on her face.

"What?" Claudia asked, unable to take the medics stares any longer.

The medic just reached forward and lifted Claudia's right arm up and showed it to her. And indeed she had a right to be shocked, for all along her sleeves, pants and parts of her chest and back, were tears and cuts from grazing hits by the bullets, but no wounds. Bullets had struck her uniform and ripped and cut it, but somehow, not even cut her flesh anywhere.

And now that Claudia had finally seen just how many times she could have been shot, she finally fell back and fainted, blackness taking her, the sounds of battle slowly fading away. But for now at least, she was safe in the hands of Squad 7, her new heroes.

* * *

_**A/N: It's confusing with General Jaeger, for in the game it said he was taken prisoner in EW1. But in the anime, it made it look like he was taken prisoner during EW2. So I just decided to go with the 2nd option, as events would still be fresh in his mind when he met Claudia. *There's no romantic interest between the two... just saying***_

_**Anyways, hope you liked this, till next time. And please read and review :), feedback is always appreciated as well as suggestions and the like.**_


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12- So few of us left...**

Claudia was just starting to regain consciousness, and the first things she heard were birds chirping, a squirrel chattering in a nearby tree and the wind blowing through the trees. The first things she saw were fluffy, white clouds drifting by in the blue sky overhead. And the first things she smelled were the scents of the entire wilderness, and all of these, were extremely soothing and a welcome sound to hear. The sounds of battle and gunfire were long gone.

But as she was almost fully awake she heard nearby voices, talking, someone giving orders to nearby soldiers. Claudia stretched her arms out to the side and arched her back, stretching all of her muscles out, yawning loudly at the same time, just like she was waking up from an afternoons nap.

And ever so slowly, Claudia pushed herself up off the ground and into a sitting position. And from this position she surveyed the entire area. She was sitting under a tree, in the shade. And all along her right side were the survivors from Squad 1 who had been rescued earlier in the day. Claudia saw Hermes Kissinger, with a female medic tending to him. Even now he was flirting with her as she was cleaning his leg wound and dressing it with white bandages and tying it into place. Clearly she was getting a little agitated by his constant flirting, so she gave the bandages an extra tight squeeze as she pulled the wrapping securely into place. And he let out a loud shriek of pain and clenched his teeth together.

"Sorry about that, Guess I was a little bit distracted," said the medic in a half sarcastic tone.

Claudia looked forward and saw Mica Hawkins with a blanket wrapped around him, another identical female medic kneeling on one knee, holding a water canteen out to him as he rocked himself back and forth. Clearly the events of the prisoner execution had shaken and traumatized him quite severely.

And as Claudia looked far to her left, a sad expression spread across her face. For lying on the ground in a single row, were blanket bodies of the soldiers from Squad 1 that were executed earlier. And sadly, she saw Rosina kneeling down on one knee next to one of the dead soldiers, her right hand extended out and patting one of the covered up bodies. She then brought her hand up to her lowered head and held it against her forehead, sighing sadly. Claudia knew who that must have been, for she had seen her hanging out with that person constantly. It was most likely Cezary Regard, one of her friends, now dead.

Claudia was glad to be alive, but still felt some sadness at the loss of life that her squad had suffered during their first real mission. So she lowered her head and sighed sadly.

"Hey, you ok?" asked a female voice and Claudia looked up and saw a third medic, identical in every way to the other two medics.

"Yes, I guess you could say that… considering the circumstances," Claudia said sadly, she then looked back up at the medic, "How bad… is my squad?"

The young medic bit her bottom lip nervously and knelt down in front of Claudia, reaching out and placing her hand against her shoulder. "I don't think I'm the one to tell you that. But the survivors of your squad are stationed nearby; you could go to them and ask your squad leader."

Claudia looked further to her right and spotting the same giant tank she had seen earlier, with the number 7 on its flag that hung from a pole attached to the top of the turret. And sitting with his back against on of the giant treads was her squad leader, Faldio Landzatt. He looked quite distraught over the many deaths of his squad mates. Claudia couldn't even begin to imagine how badly he must have felt, he was the leader after all.

So Claudia got up off the ground and dusted her pants off, but upon doing so she had once again seen the many numerous cuts and tears from the grazing hits, caused by the bullets that were shot at her from all of the Imperials earlier that day. And even the medic was looking down at her pants and sleeves and uniform in amazement.

"I must say, I have never seen someone as lucky as you," she said.

"I don't think luck has anything to do with it deary," said a female with an accented voice.

Claudia looked over and saw a female sniper from Squad 7 walking towards them, rifle slung around her shoulder. Upon arrival she looked over at Claudia and smiled brightly.

"I think it's a father's love that protected you that day," she said with her lovely accent.

"What?" asked Claudia

This female sniper then began to reach to a pouch at the back of her belt and dig around for a moment, before retrieving something that made Claudia's heart jump for joy. It was her Father's red headband once again and she handed it over right away.

Claudia took the headband and held it against her beating chest; she was laughing happily and was so glad to have it back. She then quickly put it across her forehead and tied it into place and felt safe and secure once more.

"I thought you looked familiar once we rescued you," said the female sniper, "And sure enough, I was right. Does the name David Mann ring a bell?"

Claudia nodded, "Yes, that's my father's name," Claudia said, "How do you know him?"

"My name is Catherine O'Hara, and I am a veteran of the first Europan War. And your father was a very good friend of mine during that time," Catherine said, "Now that you're here… I have to tell you something, something that might make you quite sad."

"What is it?" Claudia asked, now feeling a little worried.

"I was there with your father, when he died," Catherine said sadly, "He said to tell you that he was sorry, sorry that he couldn't keep his promise to you."

Claudia gulped, attempting to clear a knot that was forming in her throat, "Promise?"

"I was there with him during your mother's pregnancy. He was such a good man and he loved you so much even before you were born. Whenever your mother would become afraid for him and the possibility of his dying during the war, he would bend down and speak to you, his unborn child, still in her mother's womb. He would always promise, with a smile that he would stay alive, just for you."

Claudia's eyes began to well up with tears, but she tried to hold them in, "Yeah…"

Catherine O'Hara's face turned to one of great sadness, "I tell you Claudia… I sure was fond of that man."

Claudia nodded her head sadly, "Yeah…" she said sadly, a tear falling from her eye.

Catherine then reached over and took Claudia by the shoulder, "I'm glad to see that his daughter grew up to be such a brave and strong soldier, just like he was. You resemble him so much; you have his eyes and his fearless attitude."

"Thanks, and thank you so much for retrieving my headband for me, I don't know what I'd do without it," Claudia said as she touched her father's red headband.

Catherine lowered her head and shook it back and forth, "I can't take credit for that," she said, turning and looking over at a young man and woman talking to each other. "That young man over there got it back for you. But I said that I would give it back to you, for I had a message I needed to deliver as well."

Claudia looked over and saw a dark brown haired young man with a black eye patch over one eye and a scar under his other eye, talking to an orange/red hair coloured girl. Her hair was styled in the most unusual style of two stiff braids, which almost looked like the shape of a boomerang.

"I think I've seen him before…" Claudia said softly, not to anyone in particular, just to herself.

"That young man over there is Vyse Inglebard and that girl he's talking to is his best friend, Aika Thompson. They're the ones who got you your headband back, even foolishly charged on ahead of the rest of our squad to get it."

"They did what?" asked Claudia in surprise.

"I tell you, I don't think those two know the meaning of fear. Maybe it's their belief wherever it is that they're from," Catherine said curiously.

"What?" Claudia asked

"Maybe I forgot to mention. But those two, aren't even from Gallia, they're adventurers or so they claim to be. I for one cannot understand why they've chosen to fight in another countries war, but they're amazing soldiers the two of them. Fearless, bold and natural born leaders. They're both definitely a blessing to have on our side of the war."

"Isn't that something…?" Claudia said in amazement.

"If I were you, I'd get over there right now and say 'thank you' deary," Catherine said with a smile.

"Yes, I guess I'd better go do that then," Claudia said and with that she slowly began to walk over to the two foreigners of Squad 7.

Soon, just as she was about to reach the two and they stopped talking and looked over at her, "Hey! Good to see you up and about." said Vyse with a grin.

"It's nice to see that you're not hurt either. That was quite a sight, to see so many bullets fly past you and none of them strike you." said Aika next.

Claudia's hands began to fidget nervously, so she put them behind her back. "I… I wanted to come over her and say… Thank you, thank you very much," said Claudia, raising her hand up to touch her red headband, "You helped me get back something that means the world to me, and I don't know how I'll ever be able to repay the two of you for your kindness."

Vyse chuckled, "After you passed out, you must have still be semi-conscious," said Vyse, "You kept on saying 'My headband… my headband…' over and over again, you were even pointing in a direction, like you knew where it was."

Claudia's eyes widened in surprise, "I did?" she asked, not being able to remembering doing that.

Aika smiled, "Yes, you looked pretty worked up about it. The medics had to give you a mild sedative to calm you down."

Vyse nodded, "But I remember you from before, we met briefly at the battle of Vasel Bridge," said Vyse, taking a step towards Claudia, "And the one thing I remember, is seeing quite the pretty girl lingering at the back of the group, and wearing a red headband that really managed to catch my eye. Didn't seem to be standard Gallian issue for the militia either."

Aika nodded and smiled, "It must mean a lot to you, and that's something we really understand. We both wear parts of our old uniforms, back from where we call home," said Aika, pointing up to her goggles that were perched atop her head, "If I lost these, I wouldn't stop searching until I found them again."

Vyse nodded and placed a hand against his black eye patch that rested over his right eye, "Yep, I just wouldn't feel whole without this eye patch of mine. For it was a gift from my mother and father, passed down to me when I was old enough to become a member of our group. So when we heard how upset you were over losing your headband, we made it our mission to get it back for you, no matter what the cost."

Aika gave Vyse a shove, "You mean you decided, I just followed you to make sure you didn't get hurt or worse," Aika teased, she then patted Vyse on the shoulder, "But seriously, I'd follow this boy anywhere, even to Gallia, war or no war."

Claudia shook her head, for she was amazed at how close these two were, and that even though they were from another land, they chose to stay and fight for Gallia. Even more, like her they wore items that either reminded them of home or were keepsakes, passed down from one family member to another.

Claudia wanted to stay and talk some more, but she looked past Vyse and Aika and saw her Squad leader, Faldio Landzatt, now he looked really upset as he continued to talk to Alicia Melchiott and Welkin, officers and leaders of Squad 7.

She then looked back at Vyse and Aika, "I'm sorry, but I have to get back to my own squad, but it was very nice to meet the two of you. Let me just say that it is an honour to have such brave people fighting along side us, fighting for a home that is not their own," Claudia said with a smile, "I hope we meet again and under better circumstances. And thanks, thank you so much for getting my headband back for me. I'll never forget your kindness, the both of you."

Aika and Vyse both smiled brightly, and then saluted Claudia, "Stay safe and we'll see you again, we know it." said Vyse, Aika nodding in agreement.

Claudia returned the salute, a respectful salute from one squad to another, and then continued on her way down the dirt road, towards her Squad leader. But sadly, along the way, she saw very few faces that she recognized from her squad. Not Nadine, not Wendy or Jane or even Marina yet. Most of the soldiers present all had Squad 7 patches on their upper chest area of their uniform; very few had Squad 1 patches.

She then reached her Squad leader and all of the officers who were talking, stopped and watch her approach. Claudia then walked up to Faldio, came to attention and saluted her squad leader.

"Private Claudia Mann reporting for duty," she said, holding her salute in place.

But Faldio didn't return the salute as he rested against the tank tread, but he nodded to acknowledge her.

"I'm glad that you made it… Claudia…" Faldio said, voice sounding quite sad.

Claudia gulped, "Sir… our squad… how bad is it?"

But Faldio just hung his head and didn't answer. But at the same time, Alicia took Claudia by the arm and led her away from Welkin, who was bending down and placing his hand on top of Faldios' shoulder.

And once the two girls were away from the Edelweiss, she took Claudia by the hand, "I'm sorry to report that… that your squad has suffered over 75% casualties. More dead than wounded I'm afraid as well."

Claudia's knees felt shaky and she slowly lowered herself and sat on the grass, beside the road. Alicia knelt down as well and placed her hand on Claudia's shoulder, sighing sadly.

Claudia lowered her head sadly, but after a few seconds, her head shot back up, "Nadine… have you seen a Darcsen engineer named Nadine from Squad 1... Is she alright?" Claudia asked.

Alicia just nodded her head, "She's on the other side of the Edelweiss, along with the other survivors from Squad 1 who are well enough to not need medical attention," Alicia said, pointing towards the Edelweiss.

Claudia stood up and was about to leave, but turned back to Alicia, "Thank you, thank you for coming to save us. I'd probably be dead right now if you guys didn't show up when you did."

Alicia smiled and shook her head, "We can't take all of the credit for that," Alicia said, "If you want to thank anyone, you should thank Nadine and Marina Wulfstan, they're the two who helped out the most in finding this place."

"T-they did?" Claudia asked, extremely surprised that it was those two of all people who helped save her.

Alicia nodded, "Nadine took an Imperial prisoner, a young Imperial engineer who had gotten separated from his unit. And in exchange for his freedom and life, he told her the location of the Imperial supply base, where you were taken," Alicia said, "Marina Wulfstan on the other hand was nearby when you were captured, and she followed you and your captors from a safe distance, all the way to the Imperial Supply base. And stayed on the outskirts long enough to give us a very detailed layout of the base, which in turn helped us defeat the enemy very quickly."

Claudia just shook her head; she didn't quite know what to make of this new information.

But she decided it best to go and find her squad mates, and with that plan in mind she turned to Alicia and reached out and gave her a firm handshake while smiling. "I'm glad that we got to meet again, and please say thank you to your squad leader for me." Claudia said, turning and walking to find her squad mates.

* * *

And as soon as she rounded the Edelweiss, she saw, sitting by the lake, a small group of soldiers from Squad 1. This included Wendy Cheslock, Jane Turner, Dallas Wyatt, Nils, Muusad, and Nadine, who was talking to two other Darcsen girls. One was small and wearing a shawl with a Darcsen pattern Claudia recognized from a book she had read at home. The other was a shock trooper and had longer hair that was tied at the back in a small ponytail.

And as soon as they turned, all of the Squad 1 soldiers who were sitting on the ground immediately climbed to their feet and looked towards Claudia, Nadine and the other two Darcsen girls looked towards her as well. And Claudia didn't know what to make of it, but she knew why they were staring. They must have all witnessed her mad dash while getting shot at earlier, but never being hit, despite how close some bullets came to piercing her flesh.

Claudia just rubbed the back of her neck and looked away, not sure what to say at that awkward moment. But Nadine was the first to act as she walked up to Claudia and both girls just stood apart from each other, silently looking at each other.

Nadine then spread her arms out to the side and took a step towards Claudia, Claudia doing the same and both girls met up and hugged each other, long and hard. And as Claudia hugged Nadine, tears began to well up in her eyes.

Claudia emitted a soft sob, "I'm so glad you're alright…" she said softly.

Nadine nodded, "Me too, I was so worried about you when we got separated. And I would only worry this much about one person… a friend."

Claudia held Nadine a little bit tighter, "I'm so sorry Nadine, I never should have hurt you that night or acted the way I did, I see that now, and I almost never got to express how sorry I was for it all."

Nadine continued to hug Claudia, "None of that matters now Claudia… you're my friend and always will be."

And finally tears fell from both of the girls' eyes, "Thank you… Nadine…" Claudia said between sobs.

The two then let go of one another and Wendy and Jane were now approaching Claudia as Nadine went back to the other two Darcsen girls side.

Wendy looked Claudia up and down and sighed, "Damn girl… good to see that you're still in one piece. We were kind of worried when you took off by yourself in the forest."

Jane nodded and punched Claudia in the shoulder softly, "You've got some guts for a timid little thing that you are," Jane laughed, "I'll certainly never look at you the same way."

Claudia wiped away a tear and chuckled, "Suddenly… you two are like my big sisters."

Wendy snickered and ruffled the top of Claudia's head, messing up her hair, "Guess we do feel some responsibility for you… yeah, Roomie".

"We look after our own; we are on the same squad after all." Jane said with chuckle before softly punching Claudia in the shoulder once more.

Claudia laughed with her two former room mates before she spotted her third room mate and the one other girl she wanted to thank. And that girl was Marina Wulfstan, who was walking towards the group, sniper rifle slung over her shoulder. But she had a strange young man walking next to her, telling her jokes and laughing at all of them, while Marina kept her eyes straight ahead and never even emitted the slightest sound of laughter or smile even the tiniest smile.

Claudia then made her way over towards Marina and stood in the middle of the road, just in front of her, waiting for Marina to come to her.

Once Marina reached her, she stood and looked down at Claudia with her one visible violet coloured eye. And both girls stood staring at each other in silence.

And the young man next to her continues talking, but Marina looked over and glared at him, "Get. Lost. Ted." she said ever so slowly with an icy cold glare.

Ted gulped and nodded his head, "Right… guess you're busy at the moment, so I'll come back later. By then I'll be sure to have some new material that's sure to make you laugh next time, promise!

Marina just shook her head as Ted began to jog away, back to his own Squad. She then looked back at Claudia, "Yes? Need something?" Marina asked

Claudia blushed slightly, "I-I just wanted to say thank you Marina, I owe you my life on that rescue mission."

Marina lowered her head slightly and closed her one eye, "Humph, you needed saving, so I saved you. It's that simple." Marina said, finally opening her eye and looking back up, "I didn't do it out of feelings of friendship or worry, it was my duty."

Claudia gulped, intimidated by Marina's piercing stare into her own eyes, but she managed to smile, "Even so, thank you very much for saving me," Claudia said, "It really means a lot to me."

Marina gave her head a slight nod, and then looked back down at Claudia, "So how long do you plan on blocking my path back to the squad?" Marina asked

"Oh!" Claudia said, side stepping out of Marina's way to let her continue on, "Sorry about that."

And as Marina walked past Claudia, she could have sworn that she saw her lips curl up in slight smile, but couldn't be certain as she watched her walk away.

* * *

Not long after, Faldio had climbed on top of the Edelweiss and looked out at his remaining soldiers and without having to be told, those who were left all gathered round the Edelweiss and looked up at their squad leader and sadly, there were just a little over a dozen including Claudia and her friends, a sad number compared to the little over 40 that made up the squad a few days ago.

"Soldiers… this defeat and loss of life our squad has suffered… it's my fault," Faldio said sadly, "It's my fault!"

But everyone shook their heads; all of them shouted "No! No! No it isn't!"

Faldio held his hand up and everyone quieted down, "I am the leader and I failed to protect you all yesterday. Many of you lost good friends and squad mates and it is entirely my fault…"

But once again, there was an eruption of "No! Not at all!" from all of his remaining soldiers, including Claudia, who was standing next to Nadine and shaking her head at Faldio's speech.

Faldio raised his hand once again and reluctantly everyone quieted down, "We will withdraw from the area, Once we have secured all of our… our dead and wounded…" Faldio said, his voice cracking, sparkles of tears forming in his eyes, "Squad 7 will remain behind to cover our retreat."

Faldio sighed sadly, "Squad 1 will most likely be temporarily disbanded upon our arrival at Fort Amatirain. What you do and where you go after this is up to you, should any of you wish to leave… I will understand. But you will all receive a letter of recall in the near future. So please take this time to go home, see you families or do whatever you wish to do. If you choose to answer the recall to active service… I would personally be very grateful."

A lot of the members lowered their heads and nodded, including Claudia.

Faldio just nodded his head and climbed down from the tank.

* * *

A few hours later, troop transport trucks arrived from headquarters to transport the survivors from Squad 1 and to evacuate the dead and wounded while Squad 7 stayed behind to guard Squad 1's withdrawal.

And as the few surviving members of Squad 1 were making their way towards the transport trucks, all of the members of Squad 7 lined the road. And in a great show of respect, all of the members of Squad 7 shook the hands of the soldiers from Squad 1 as they moved past.

Claudia walked by, tears welling up in her eyes as she walked past the soldiers, shaking one hand after the other of the lined up soldiers.

"Take care of yourself now!" Vyse said as he shook her hand.

"Be good, be safe!" Aika said next.

Claudia then climbed into the back of the nearest transport truck and found a seat at the front, Nadine sitting next to her. Moments later the engine started and rumbled loudly as Claudia looked out the back of the truck at the waving soldiers from Squad 7, their figures growing smaller as the truck pulled away and headed back to Fort Amatirian.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: New squad, New faces, New challenges**

Claudia Mann was outside of her uncle's house, under the hood of his older model truck. Despite being temporarily relieved of active service, while the militia had to decide what to do with Faldio Landzatt's decimated squad, Claudia kept up with her engineering duties while at home. Her Squad leader was indeed correct, about the whole squad being disbanded and given leave from the base.

But she didn't want to get rusty while she was away, so she kept her time occupied with fixing things, and reading borrowed books from the library about Gallian military history, mechanics and even some about the Empire to the East, who's forces were currently invading Gallia.

Still it had been nearly 2 weeks since she was sent home and there was still no word about returning to active service as of yet. And she was beginning to wonder if there ever would be. She was even beginning to miss Nadine, Jane, Wendy and even the emotionless Marina Wulfstan, her former roommates and friends.

Just then, "Claudia! Time for supper!" her uncle called from the front door.

"Coming uncle!" Claudia replied. And she set her wrench back down into the toolbox, next reaching over to a large white towel and wiping her greasy, oil covered hands before tossing it next to the toolbox and heading to the house.

* * *

A short while later, dinner was finished and both Claudia and her uncle were clearing the table and getting ready to do the dishes. And as Claudia went to grab another garbage bag to replace the old one, she happened to see a white envelope tucked away behind a basket, which was under the cupboard, it seemed odd because it was actually placed behind the basket, like it was hurriedly put there. So naturally curious, Claudia reached out and pulled the envelope out and examined it, it had already been opened.

But once Claudia saw both its contents and its address, her eyes grew wide. "Uncle Robert!" Claudia called out angrily.

He came from around the corner, "What's wrong?" he asked.

Claudia glared at him and held up the envelope. "I've been called back to the base, but you didn't tell me!" Claudia cried. "What's more, this letter is 4 days old… I can't believe you've been hiding this from me!"

Uncle Robert sighed and walked up to Claudia, "I read the note, it's not an official military recall. It simply states that should you wish to return to your squad, you may do so now." Robert said. "You don't have to go… I don't want you to go."

Claudia looked up at her uncle and he looked back at her with his one good eye, the other covered in the black eye patch. Claudia then walked past him, heading for the stairs.

"I'm a soldier, Uncle Robert, just like my father once was," said Claudia. "I have a duty and a responsibility to my friends, my squad mates and most of all, my squad leader. I have to go back."

"Claudia Stop!" Her uncle shouted in a commanding voice and she froze instantly, her back still turned to him though.

"I did this because I remember the stories you've told me from your time in the militia, I don't think the life of a soldier is for you," her uncle said. "You participated in a group hazing of a fellow squad mate, you participated in a massacre of unarmed Imperial soldiers, your squad was nearly destroyed, and you were taken hostage, shot at and nearly killed! Can you really blame me for wanting to keep you from all that."

Claudia sighed, "None of those were my fault… things just got out of hand, and I was too timid to do the right thing. But I'm different now, I'm not a child!" said Claudia angrily. "I'm old enough to make decisions for myself and I decide whether or not I want to return to active service. And right now, I do, it's my duty, as a soldier of Gallia. I think my father would also agree…"

Her uncle didn't respond, he just walked to his large arm chair in the nearby living room and sat it in. "You really are your father's daughter… you have that same fire in your heart and soul, just as he used to."

Claudia finally turned around and faced her uncle, "So you'll let me go back to the base?" she asked anxiously.

Her uncle nodded, "Yes, first thing in the morning," he replied. "Now head on upstairs and pack your stuff and get to bed early, you'll need to wake up early."

"Thank you Uncle!" Claudia said happily and she dashed up the flight of stairs and ran to her room, hurriedly getting her duffle bag and then running to her dresser drawers, opening the top and taking out her uniform. But as she held them in her hands she looked down at it. She ran her hand slowly down sleeves, the tips of her fingers skimming over the cuts, rips and tears from all the grazing hits during that day in the Kloden wildwoods. Next, she looked down at her folded up uniform jacket and ran her hand over her Squad 1 patch, tracing the number 1 with her finger and then the outline of the white unicorn. She had left the base so soon after they had arrived from Kloden that she had kept her uniform on during the bus ride to Randgriz and never bothered changing or exchanging her torn up uniform for another one.

"It was an extremely close call that day…" Claudia thought to herself. Remembering the sound of just how close those bullets missed her face and body. "I wonder why my luck seemed to change that day, why I was spared and not killed like all the others."

But she gave her head a shake; she didn't want to scare herself into not returning to the base the next morning. So she set her full uniform on a nearby chair and her boots on the floor beside them, packed her duffle bag and set it next to the chair that held her uniform. And after brushing her teeth and putting on her sleepwear, she climbed into bed and went to sleep, eager for morning to come so she could rejoin the squad the next day.

* * *

And true to his word, as soon as Claudia was up and dressed and wolfed down her breakfast, they both piled into the truck, parked outside and began to drive towards the Military base, stationed just outside of Randgriz city. But as they drove, her uncle kept turning his head and looked over at Claudia as she looked out the window. He was beginning to doubt his decision to let her go, especially when her uniform held such clear evidence of just how close she came to getting shot in her first mission. But he remembered just how determined she was to go back and he wasn't going to stop her, for her knew she was just as stubborn as his brother, her father once was and that it would be useless to try and talk her out of it.

Soon, they had arrived at the military base and pulled up to the large front entrance; a large concrete building was nearby, with a guard stationed there to let people in and out. The truck stopped just in front of the gate and Claudia handed her military ID to the guard stationed there. He quickly looked it over and nodded his head, and allowed the truck through.

Not long after, Claudia was dropped off at the Central command building, to report her return to active service to the Captain and commander of the regiment.

But as Claudia was headed to the back and took hold of her duffle bag from the back cab, she heard a familiar accented voice.

"Claudia… Claudia darling, is that you?" asked the female voice and upon turning she saw Catherine O'Hara leading two younger snipers away from the building. She saw that they had their sniper rifles slung over their shoulders and each bore a Squad 7 patch on their uniform.

"Oh hello Catherine! Nice to see you again," Claudia said cheerfully.

Catherine patted Claudia on the shoulder and smiled at her, but her eyes drifted to the inside of the truck.

"My word… is that… Robert?" Catherine asked, a smile forming on her face as she walked around to the passenger side. "It is you, isn't it! I haven't seen you in years!"

But Claudia's Uncle held his head low and ignored her, but he looked slightly back, "Have you got everything?" He asked Claudia, still ignoring Catherine O'Hara who looked slightly hurt by his cold heartedness.

"Robert… do not ignore me, please…" Catherine pleaded and this time Robert revved the engine and Claudia finally took her duffle bag quickly out of the back and stepped back.

And once he saw that she had her bag in hand, he took off, leaving a stunned and bewildered Catherine O'Hara standing next to the road.

Claudia put the bag over her shoulder and walked up to her, "I can't believe he's still ignoring me…" Catherine said.

"Why would he do that?" Claudia asked

Catherine shook her head, "After your father died… your uncle just… changed. He closed his heart up and remained quiet for the rest of the war. Ignoring all of his friends and everyone else, but I didn't think he'd still be doing that to this very day…"

"I see… I'm sorry he did that, I didn't mean to upset you so early in the day." Claudia said apologetically.

Catherine shook her head and placed her hand on Claudia's shoulder, "It's not your fault Claudia Darling, so don't sweat it," she said. "But should you see your uncle again, tell him that he still has friends from his old unit, who miss him, like I do. Tell him he can still come see us when he's ready."

Claudia smiled, "I will," she replied. "But I should be off; I have to report to Captain Varrot, to report my return to squad 1."

But Catherine O'Hara bit her bottom lip nervously, "Forgive me, it skipped my mind upon seeing you and your uncle again, Claudia. And I probably shouldn't be the one to tell you this… But Squad 1 is already gone, the soldiers have already returned after the recall, the squad's gotten new members to replenish their ranks and they set off just yesterday afternoon on patrol."

"What?" Claudia squeaked in surprise. "That can't be true!"

"I wish it weren't, but it is Claudia…" Catherine said sadly. "But you've returned, so go tell the Captain that you're back, I'm sure she'll find something for you to do or somewhere for you to go."

Claudia lowered her head, "_If only Uncle Robert didn't_…" but she gave her head a shake, he had his reasons to try and keep her away.

"Thank you Catherine, for telling me anyway," Claudia said gratefully. And with that, she quickly ran up the steps and made her way to the Captain's office.

* * *

Upon arrival she bent forward and caught her breath, wiping away from sweat from her forehead, but touching her headband at the same time. Feeling it again made her smile, even in a time such as now when she returned too late to rejoin her old squad.

Claudia took a deep, nervous breath and knocked on the door, "You may enter." said the Captain Voice. And Claudia obeyed, turned the knob and entered. She marched up to Captain Varrot's desk and she stopped writing and watch Claudia approach. Claudia then came to a halt, took her duffle bag off and set it on the ground, raising a proper salute to the tip of her brow and holding it in place.

"Ma'am, Private Claudia Mann, reporting for duty!" Claudia said, loud, clear and proper.

"At ease Private Mann." Captain Varrot said, and Claudia assumed the said position.

"After all this time… I was beginning to think that you weren't coming back," said Varrot.

"I apologize, Captain… but there were reasons for my lateness…"

"Such as?" Varrot asked with a raised brow.

But Claudia chose not to blame her uncle, "Just… nothing Ma'am, again, I'm sorry for being so late to answer the recall."

Captain Varrot then raised a clip board up and silently read some information, "It seems that Squad 1 has already reformed and is out on patrol till tomorrow evening, sorry to say you will not be joining them."

"I… understand Captain," Claudia replied. "If I may ask… what now, what do you want me to do, where do you want me to go?"

Varrot flipped through some sheets, and came to one and looked it over, then back up to Claudia. "Squad 3 is currently seeking new members, you will join them and become a member of Squad 3, is that understood?"

Claudia came to attention and saluted her Captain, but just then there was another knock on her door. "Enter!" Varrot said and this time two females entered the room, with three armed Gallian Regular soldiers escorting them, a fat looking General followed them in at the back.

"Varrot!" said the General, waddling into the room, pushing Claudia aside.

The two female soldiers followed, but it seemed like they were more prisoners than anything else.

Varrot stood up and saluted the General, "Yes General Damon? What Can I do for you?"

"These two have been sent her from Internment camp number 2. They've 'volunteered' for military service in exchange for being let out of that camp." General Damon said, pointing to the two jet black haired females. "However! I will not have Imperial born scum serving in my army, therefore I hand them over to the militia, do whatever the hell you want with them."

"I… thank you General; I will take them off your hands for you." Varrot said. He just responded with a scoff, turned and began to leave, but not before shoving one of the girls out of the way, the other thankfully caught her.

Claudia was close enough that she heard the girl mutter something, "_Arschloch_" she muttered angrily.

Captain Varrot sighed then left her desk and walked up to these two Imperial girls.

"Greetings, I am Captain Varrot, Commander of this Militia regiment. What are your names?" Varrot asked.

But the two girls looked at each other and remained silent, Claudia looked on curiously.

"Can you speak our language?" Varrot asked with a hand to her chin.

Finally the taller and older looking of the two stepped forward, "Yes, we do," she replied. Though she spoke with a very heavy Eastern Europan accent, much like the soldiers in the Kloden Wildwoods as Claudia remembered it. "But we have chosen to remain silent, for we have not received good treatment lately."

"Alright, if you will just excuse me for a moment. I would like to speak with the young private here," said Varrot, pointing to Claudia. "You may wait outside."

The two girls bowed slightly and walked outside and closed the door behind them. And now Varrot walked up to Claudia.

"Ma'am… are those girls… Imperials?" she asked.

"Imperial-Gallians I'd imagine," Varrot replied. "Or enemy-aliens as some may call them. I'm sure you know that Gallia does have citizens from the Empire, who have moved here after the last war, seeking a safer place to live and raise their children from the war torn Empire."

Claudia nodded, "Yes, I was just reading about it at home in fact.

Varrot nodded, "But you may not know this…" Varrot started, looking kind of upset. "An order was given, not long after the war started, it stated that; all citizens of Imperial origin are to be detained within Internment camps, and classified as enemy-aliens. I think that these two girls are some of those detainees."

"They were taken away… just because they were born from the Empire, or were children born from parents of the Empire?" Claudia asked.

"Yes, there have been cases, where some detainees are allowed to service in the Gallian Military or Militia, in exchange for freedom from these internment camps, a chance to prove themselves and their loyalty."

"However, this does serve a good purpose, you coming in late that is." said Varrot with a smile, "Wait outside, I'll talk to these two girls and decide what to do with them, but I'm going to need your help."

"Alright Ma'am, anything I can do to help." said Claudia, saluting her Captain before departing from the room. Once she was outside she saw the two girls speaking in a foreign language, one she was not familiar with. But they stopped once they saw her.

"The Captain would like to see you inside…" Claudia said nervously, their jet black hair and emerald green eyes were frighteningly familiar to her, like the soldiers she had seen on the battlefield.

One of the girls bowed slightly to Claudia, "_Danke_," she said. Causing Claudia to tilt her head slightly, the girl realized her mistake and said "Thank you" this time.

And they both headed inside, while Claudia leaned back against the wall and waited.

* * *

And finally, after what seemed like ages, the two girls and Captain Varrot finally came out of her office.

"Alright Claudia, I've taken down these two girls information and assigned them to Squad 3. I want you to take them to the supply quarters and help them find a uniform and everything they'll need to serve in the militia."

Claudia saluted her captain, "As you wish," she said.

Claudia managed to smile a small smile at the two girls, "Follow me," she instructed. The two girls nodded and began to follow Claudia as she led the way.

But as she led the way, she happened to hear the girls speaking in the same foreign language they were earlier and not in the language of Gallia. This caused some stares by soldiers passing by in the hallways. Finally Claudia looked over her shoulder at them.

The older of the two held her hand up and silenced the other, "I apologize… do you wish us to speak in your language?" she asked.

"I… uh…" Claudia stammered, not sure what to say.

"We will speak in the language of Gallia then." the girl replied with a smile.

"Ok…" Claudia replied, blushing slightly.

And as Claudia lead the way she turned to the older girl, who had very long, jet black hair, good complexion, and a dazzling pair of emerald green eyes. "So guess I should start off with introduction," Claudia said. "My name is Claudia Mann, and it looks like we'll be serving together."

The older girl smiled, "My name is Elisa Adalwolfa," she said, then placing her hand on the younger girls shoulder. "This is my adopted sister, Ellen Reinhilde."

The younger girl had short jet black hair, which reached just past her ear lobes and also had beautiful emerald green eyes. But unlike the older girl, she seemed a lot more timid and quiet of the two, seemingly letting Elisa speak for her.

But Elisa nudged Ellen in the shoulder, "Nice… to meet you…" she said, also bearing a heavy Eastern Europan accent, like the other Imperials she had heard beforehand.

* * *

Soon the trio arrived at the supply quarters and Ellen and Elisa were given time to change into their new uniforms and buy items and supplies they would need to take to their new barracks. But they had to do so on their own, the quartermaster refused to help these two Imperial girls find what they were looking for and utterly ignored them.

Once they came back out, Claudia noticed their classes. Elisa was a sniper and Ellen was a scout, she could tell by the markings on the high of their backs. Next Claudia lead them to the barracks, but a sad look spread across her face as she walked past the Squad 1 barracks, her old home away from home. And they continued until they arrived at the barracks of Squad 3 and inside they could hear a lot of conversation going on, happy laughter and such.

Claudia then pushed her way through the double doors and slowly, the soldiers inside started to quiet down as they looked to the doorway, some soldiers elbowing soldiers next to them and pointing at these three new recruits. And now, all was quiet, some were giving angry glares and Claudia guessed why.

"What's this…? Three Imperial girls… in Gallian uniforms?"

"Three?" Claudia thought to herself, but remembered the color of her hair and the darkness of her own eyes. She was mistaken for being a Darcsen girl by the Imperial soldiers, now she was mistaken for being an Imperial by the Gallian soldiers.

And now the whole barracks erupted in angry shouts and taunts, some soldiers throwing small objects like pillows, garbage or pens at Claudia and the other two girls. And with everyone clamouring together, Claudia held up her duffle bag in front of her to block the flying objects, and then noticed Elisa the older of the two standing in front of Ellen who seemed frightened, she was blocking all the flying objects with her body, protecting Ellen.

"Get out of here Imperial scum!" a man shouted

"Go back to the Empire!" another shouted

"We shoot Imperials here, not fight along side them!"

Suddenly, "That's ENOUGH, All of you!" a loud, commanding voice shouted and everyone quieted down immediately, some sitting back down in their chairs.

Next came the sound of loud thumping footsteps and Claudia finally lowered her bag, but came face to face with a scar-faced soldier, probably just a little under 30 years old, but looking like he had already seen some tough action. And as Claudia looked slightly down she saw his rank, the rank of a lieutenant, he was obviously the Squad Leader.

So Claudia set her bag down and came to attention, saluting him quickly and holding it in place, Elisa and Ellen did the same.

"Sir! Private Claudia Mann reporting as ordered by Captain Varrot," Claudia said clearly and loudly.

"Private Elisa Adalwolfa, reporting for duty." Elisa said confidently

Ellen's right hand that was giving the salute was visibly trembling, "P-private Ellen Reinhilde, r-reporting as o-ordered."

The lieutenant scoffed and didn't return the salute, "Tch… to think they dare stick Imperials in my unit, they've got some nerve." he said angrily. "Listen up closely, I'll be watching you very carefully, and if I have even the slightest inkling that aren't fully on our side during a battle… there might just be a case of misfire… from all of us."

Everyone raised their fists in the air and shouted "Yeah!" at the same time.

"There won't be sir, for I am from Gallia, born in Gallia." Claudia said in her defence.

But the lieutenant walked up to her, getting nose to nose. "You know what the difference is between you and an Imperial, girl?" he asked, eyebrows furrowed angrily. He then reached out, touching her black coloured hair, and then tapping her uniform. "It's this uniform… that's it, in all other aspects; you look just the same as these two, so you better remember that."

The lieutenant then walked away and everyone continued to glare at Claudia and Elisa and Ellen. Claudia sighed, and picked up her duffle bag and went to find an open bunk; the other two Imperial-Gallian girls followed her. They found some bunks in the corner, but the soldiers near those bunks were already packing up their belongings.

"I'm not sleeping anywhere near you Imps!" said a female soldier angrily. She then picked up her duffle bag and moved further down the barracks, as did the other 3 female soldiers in that area. Now there were 4 empty bunks for Claudia and Elisa and Ellen to choose from.

Elisa let Ellen take the top bunk, while she took the bottom, next to Claudia. And by this time, it was late evening, almost lights out time.

And as Claudia was unpacking her duffle bag she happened to look over at Elisa, who was quietly talking to Ellen, but in their own language once again. She wished she could understand what they were saying, but guessed it just came natural to them and was easy to forget.

And like Nadine did before, Claudia wanted to go around and introduce herself to the squad, but she could feel their hot, angry glares burning a whole in her back, so she decided not to. Instead she turned to Ellen and Elisa.

"So… where are you two from?" she asked curiously.

"My father is from Wildhusen in the Empire, but my mother comes from Norfolk, in Northern Gallia. It is her that we've live with most of our lives." Elisa explained. "Ellen's mother died in childbirth, her father, an officer in the Imperial army in the 1st Europan war, died in that war and we took her in. My father was born in the noble ranks of the Imperial city, and a high ranking officer in the Imperial army. But my mother took us away from him and brought us here to Gallia while he remained in the Imperial army and the Empire.

But she kept us true to our heritage, Imperium is all we speak in our household, and we've both been sent to the Empire, to attend schooling and learn about our Imperial heritage. I attended University in the Imperial city as well; Ellen went to serve 2 exchange terms in high school.

But mother believes it best we stay here in Gallia, for one is not bound to one way of life, depending on which class you are born in, be it peasant, noble or in between, we can choose our own way of life here. But we still do suffer a lot of discrimination here… but given the way of life we have, that's a small price to pay. So given the two sides of this war… we choose Gallia."

Claudia nodded her head, "I see…" she said. "Well now that I heard that… I'm glad to have you with us."

And with that Claudia reached out and shook Elisa's hand first, then Ellen's. Tomorrow they would be given their first assignment and their chance to prove their loyalty to Gallia. Claudia knew that would probably be quite the dilemma, to have to shot at and kill other Imperials, but she now knew these two had chosen their side in this war.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14- No luck and no victory…**

Claudia and her new squad were formed up outside of Squad 3's barracks, in ranks. And even now, as they were waiting for the transports trucks to arrive, Claudia could feel the numerous eyes glaring at her. But she shook that thought away as she looked over at Elisa, to her right. She now had a sniper rifle slung over her shoulder; she looked and smiled back at Claudia. She then turned her head to the left and smiled at Ellen, who blushed slightly, then smiled just a little bit before looking forward. Claudia still could not understand why she was still so timid, shy and quiet even after they agreed to become friends.

But just then, she heard the sound of many large and rumbling transport trucks approaching and after looking down the road, she saw the lieutenant of squad 3. His blue, red and white tank was leading the entire convoy towards the barracks.

Soon after, the 4 large transports that were lined up behind the squad leader's tank came to a halt in front of the barracks, but no one moved just yet. And as they waited, the Squad leader appeared, climbing out of his tank and jumping down from it, in front of his formed up troops. Everyone assumed the position of attention and waited for their orders.

"Alright, it seems that today, we're assigned to the Barious desert," said the lieutenant with a sigh. And that sigh was joined in with numerous groans and moans from the other squad members, they too were clearly disappointed as well.

"Furthermore, we're asked to reinforce Squad 7," The lieutenant continued. "Seems even the 7's can bite off more than they can chew. They've encountered some heavy resistance in the desert, an entire company of Imperial soldiers, accompanied by a large number of enemy tanks. They've called in additional squads, one of them being us and the other being Squad 1. Let's just hope their lucks last a lot longer than in Kloden."

This caused some laughter and chuckles from the near 40 soldiers in Squad 3, all except Elisa and Ellen and most of all Claudia, her face was beat red with anger, but she kept quiet.

"That is all, climb aboard the transports and let's get this show on the road!" the Lieutenant ordered. He too climbed into his tank and it lurched forward and began to drive to the front of the column, rumbling loudly. More tanks followed behind as all of the soldiers climbed aboard the awaiting troop transport trucks.

Claudia finally found a sitting place, in the last truck at the very back, right beside the tailgate no less. And for most of the drive she could feel the glares of her fellow squad mates. And she was sure they were going to keep an extra close eye on both her and the two Imperial girls that day.

But as the drive continued Claudia placed her head against the beam behind her that held the giant flap and closed her eyes.

"At least this will give me a chance to see both Squad 1 and Squad 7 again," Claudia thought with a grin. "I'll finally get to see Nadine, Jane, Wendy, Marina and even Vyse and Aika once more. And of course, I could never forget Catherine O'Hara."

And without realizing it, Claudia fell asleep, the bouncing of the truck kind of acted like a rocking chair, or even though she was embarrassed to admit, like a giant crib that rocked her to sleep.

* * *

Sometime later, Claudia was awakened by the truck suddenly coming to stop that send her limp, half asleep body flying into Ellen who was sitting next to her.

She smiled, "We're here…" she said.

"What…" Claudia said. She was still groggy, and now her head felt kind of funny. But as she looked out of the tail gate, she saw that it was getting into the late afternoon, but the sun was still quite high in the sky. But now it was scorching hot out.

Soldiers across from Claudia were already climbing out of the truck, but Claudia was still sluggish, and didn't move.

"Quit holding up the line!" a female soldier down the row of seats shouted.

A male soldier next to Elisa was pressing the butt of his rifle against her shoulder, trying to get her to move. And now, even she reached around Ellen and pushed Claudia towards the exit.

Claudia finally gave her head a shake, attempting to wake up. And now she climbed out and looked around. And for as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but vast open desert, with scorching sands, distant rock formations and a blazing sun overhead. And as she rounded the truck to the front, she saw a camp that was in the process of being set up by another squad. Curious, Claudia walked towards it and finally saw a blue, red and white Gallian tank with a large, yellow Number 1 painted on its hull.

Claudia smiled and began to walk with the rest of the column of soldiers towards the encampment. The soldiers from Squad 1 were setting up large tents, sandbag defences and placing large calibre machine guns in various positions on the outskirts of the camp.

And together Squad 3 entered the camp and soldiers began to spread out, the leader of Squad 3 looked around for the leader of Squad 1, to report in and find out what both he and his unit were supposed to do.

Claudia stopped and looked around with a hand against her eyebrows, to shield out the blazing suns light overhead and help her see better. And she found Nadine working on the Squad leader's tank. She smiled and was just about to make her way over to her, but a hand planted itself on her shoulder. She jumped a little bit and turned around, into the glaring eyes of her squad leader.

"You take those two and start unloading the trucks," he ordered. At the same time, gesturing with his head towards Ellen and Elisa, the ones who were supposed to help her with this task.

Claudia looked around, but no one else was making their way towards the trucks, quite the opposite, they were moving away from them.

"Just the three of us?" Claudia asked

"You want a chance to prove your loyalty? Then start unloading the trucks," he ordered. "Probably take all day, but I want it done right and I want it done quickly!"

Claudia looked past her Squad leader and finally saw Nadine on her feet and looking in what looked like disbelief at seeing her old friend, Claudia once again. But sadly, there was no time for a reunion now, she had her orders and as much as she hated it, she obeyed and turned, making her way towards Ellen and Elisa who were chatting together.

And like he stated before he watched Claudia walk towards the two Imperial girls with a very close eye. He continued to watch as she explained the orders, but neither groaned and showed any real sort of displeasure.

Instead Elisa looked toward him, gave a salute and shouted "Your obedient servant sir!"

All three girls then made their way towards the trucks, Claudia unbuckling her tool belt and backpack, setting them aside so she could help out. But unlike the other girls, as soon as the flap was moved aside from the truck bed Claudia released a long, angry groan at the sight of the many numerous boxes and crates of all sizes loaded in the back of this truck.

But not wanting to disappoint her new squad leader, she set to work with the other girls and began to unload the supplies and set them up inside of the camp. It was tough, back breaking labour for just 3 girls to do, but they kept at it.

And 2 hours into the work, Claudia set down a large crate containing ammo and leaned against it. One hand was held against her back, the other against the crate, supporting her. Sweat dripped down the sides of her cheeks, the tips of her hair and down into the sand. She breathed hard as she reached down to her canteen and began to unscrew the cap, taking a short 5 minute breather.

But as she tipped the canteen towards her open mouth, only a few drops came out. Claudia gave it a shake, thinking somehow that might help, but it didn't and she lowered her head. The work was made that much more difficult by the scorching hot sun overhead and the humidity of the day. It was yet another new experience for Claudia, being in a desert and its unforgiving terrain and conditions.

But as she held her head down and let the sweat drip off her face, she felt a hand against her shoulder. And as she raised her head, she saw another canteen being held out to her, as she looked up even more she saw two faces. One had two black marks under her eyes and a wool knit cap on her head, why she'd wear something like that out in the desert was crazy for one. But Claudia recognized that it belonged to Wendy Cheslock, she was the one holding the canteen out to her. The other was Jane Turner, her face still as pale as ever, maybe she couldn't get a tan even if she tried. Her eyes were still the same serpent like eyes she remembered and she smiled her slightly creepy smile at her.

"Wendy? Jane?" Claudia asked. Just to confirm that it really was those two girls.

"What up, girl?" Wendy asked, releasing a trademark snicker right after.

"Well, well, look at what the cat dragged in," Jane said with a chuckle. She then slapped Claudia hard on the shoulder. "Where the hell have you been?"

Claudia smiled as she took the canteen. But before she answered the girls, she tipped it back, drinking fast and greedily. But in the process, some water escaped either side of her mouth and dripped down onto her blue uniform, slightly cooling her sweat soaked chest, which felt good.

She then moved the canteen away and wiped her lips with the back of her sleeve. Wendy and Jane looked at each other as Claudia handed the canteen back to Wendy. Wendy gave her canteen a shake and found that there was still just a little bit of water left. So she looked over at Jane and raised an eyebrow, she responded with a grin and a nod as well.

And Wendy turned the canteen over; right over the top of Claudia's head and dumped the remaining contents over her sweat filled hair and head. Claudia released a slight yelp of surprise then began to laugh, for it felt cool and soothing after all her hard work.

"You looked like you could use it," Wendy said. Replacing the canteen back onto her belt, back inside its pouch.

"I believe we asked you a question," Jane stated once again.

"Sorry," said Claudia. She gave her wet hair a shake, water spraying in all directions as she did.

"About my late arrival… I apologize for that," said Claudia. Bowing apologetically, "But here I am, back in the militia."

Wendy and Jane nodded, but Wendy looked down at Claudia's uniform. "What's this?" Wendy asked. She was tracing the large number 3 on Claudia's uniform with her fingertip.

Claudia lowered her head, "My new squad assignment…"

Jane shook her head, "Man… that number does not suit you as well as 1 does."

"Yes… I know," Claudia replied with a sigh.

"Doesn't look like you're off to a good start either…" Wendy said, looking back at the Squad 3 supply trucks, which still had some ways to go before they were unpacked.

"I know… but there's nothing I can do," Claudia said. "Just have to work hard and hope I earn the respect of these people in Squad 3. But there was a time when I had to work to earn the respect of the soldiers of Squad 1 and… it was worth it."

Wendy grinned and snickered in response, Jane nodded her head while her arms were folded across her chest.

But suddenly, from behind them, "Get back to work, NOW!" Claudia's squad leader roared.

Claudia shuddered and both Jane and Wendy glared at him, before looking back down at Claudia.

"If you ever need some help with this asshole, just say the word," Jane said while pounding her right fist into her open left palm repeatedly.

"Indeed, I'm up for that as well," Wendy added with another snicker.

Claudia smiled, and then laughed. "Don't worry, I can handle him," she said. Finally standing up, tall and proper. "Nice to see you again, but I best be getting back to work."

And Claudia headed back, refilled with new energy after seeing her former roommates and fellow squad mates. And with that energy, she quickly helped unload the remaining supplies and set them inside the camp and took each to its proper location. Ragnaid for the aid station, provisions for the large dining facility tent, and everything in between.

And finally, after 4 hours of hard labour, they were finished. Claudia, Ellen and Elisa were sitting on some sandbags, new canteens in hand and were looking out in the vast expanse of the Barious desert. The entire base camp was now set up and filled with soldiers from all 3 squads, now that Squad 7 had arrived.

The sun was setting and it was getting darker, cooler, and quieter. It was almost an unsettling feeling; know that there were enough Imperials out there that even the Elite Squad 7 called for back up before moving deeper into the desert.

"It's so quiet…" Claudia finally said.

"Deserts usually are," Elisa said. "Not much lives or wants to live out here, so why the heck are so many Imperials doing in a place like this?"

"I was wondering that myself… guess we'll find out tomorrow." said Claudia.

Both of the girls looked down, "I'm thankful that I haven't had to kill any Imperial soldiers as of yet." Elisa said first.

"It will be difficult…" Ellen added.

"But if it means showing we fight for Gallian, we'll have to do it eventually…" Elisa said next.

Claudia nodded her head, "But we did well today, we showed them that we're up to the work."

And all three girls bid each other good night, but Elisa remained, looking out into the open desert. Ellen and Claudia headed straight for the temporary barracks for Squad 3. But Ellen's small green eyes were looking back and forth, at the surrounding encampment.

"This place is not as defensible as it should be…" she said quietly to herself.

"Hmmm… you say something?" Claudia asked. Her voice sounded extremely tired.

"Sorry… just thinking out loud…" Ellen said. Blushing slightly, she then tuned and walked off in another direction.

Claudia continued on towards the barracks. And as she walked, her eyelids were closing and becoming hard to keep open. She wanted to find the others, from her former squad and those from Squad 7 that she wanted to see as well. But she was too tired after the day's hard work, and once she found a cot, she pretty much collapsed right into it, closing her eyes and quickly drifting off to sleep.

* * *

The next morning the entire squad was gathered, for a meeting before moving out that day. All 40 members of the squad were in a large green army tent, the squad leader at the front, with a giant white map of the region and 3 large red arrows on the map. Each arrow represented an entire squad, one on the left flank, one in the middle and one on the right flank. Squad 3 was on the right; Squad 1 was in the center and Squad 7 on the far left flank. The plan was for all 3 squads to head away from the base, spreading out in the given directions on the map and scouts the area for any signs of the Imperials that were supposed to be in the area.

And with their new orders in hand, the 3's formed up into squads and set out into the desert all along the line of advance on the right flank.

About an hour into the search, Claudia was having a hard time dealing with the blazing hot sun, the scorching sands, and the rough terrain. Worse yet, she was carrying nearly half of her body weight in engineers gear, which didn't help much either. Her backpack was heavy, her back was sweaty from where the heavy pack pressed against, her tool belt was also very heavy and her tools clanked together loudly. And out of the other 9 people she was scouting the desert with; none of them were having as much trouble as she was.

The group turned left and began to head in a slow curve back to the rest of the squad, but Claudia was trailing in the back. Sadly, she wasn't with Ellen or Elisa during the patrol and none of the other squad members seemed to care that she was slowly falling back and getting left behind.

And as Claudia continued to force herself to walk forward, she looked down at her feet and saw just how uncoordinated her feet were. Step, wobble, step, wobble, wobble, step, nearly tripping, repeat.

So Claudia bent forward and rested her hands against her knees, breathing heavily, sweating profusely, and barely able to continue. She looked back up and saw that the others were still walking forward; leaving many footprints in the sand while she hung back. None of them bothered to look back or wait for her.

Her head was starting to ache, almost like a migraine. Then she remembered that she had concentrated so hard on trying to keep up with the others and not be a burden that she had neglected to properly hydrate herself, like she should have been doing out in the unforgiving desert conditions. She was also worried that she might have sweated out most of her bodies' water supply.

So she reached down while still panting and retrieved her water canteen, it still felt slightly cold to the touch, which caused her to smile. She quickly unscrewed the lid, licking her lips slightly. And with the cap off she began to tip the canteen back towards her eagerly awaiting mouth and parched throat.

_PANG_ came a sudden and startling sound as a bullet struck her water canteen, knocking it straight out of her hands and falling into the sand. Its precious, live giving contents spilling out onto the scorching sands through the open cap and bullet hole.

"AMBUSH!" screamed one of the female soldiers from the patrol up ahead, which were already running back towards Claudia.

And a frighteningly similar line and memory flashed through Claudia's mind, "Ambush!" she remembered Jane shouting in the Kloden Wildwoods.

And as Claudia looked back to the patrol group that she was accompanying, she saw numerous enemy tanks coming out from behind tall rock formations, from which they were hiding behind. Distant, human shaped figures appearing from high up on the high rocks. Others were following on the ground along side the tank. Next she saw one of the approaching tanks barrels give out a bright flash and smoke, but didn't hear a bang just yet. A shell then exploded near her patrol group, knocking two of the retreating soldiers to the ground. A third, male soldier was struck by bullets in the back, two, then three times by the firing Imperial soldiers behind the group. The survivors continued to run towards Claudia.

"Oh… no, not again!" Claudia cried as she was caught in yet another enemy ambush, similar to the one in Kloden which had devastated her squad.

Panicked, she looked around quickly and found some nearby rocks and ran towards them, hopefully they'd give her and the others some cover, while they reported the enemy's position to the rest of the squad and waited for back-up.

Sadly only 5 of the 9 soldiers sent on the patrol group, of which she was included, survived and took cover with her behind the tall rocks. But the Imperials weren't coming, they remained where they were, but were still firing shells and bullets at them, what were they waiting for?

Despite all the sounds of the battle going on and one of the soldiers next to her, talking to the squad leader through a portable radio, while the others fired their guns and anti-tank lances at the enemy. Claudia held both sides of her head, which was throbbing immensely. She hadn't drunk anything for nearly 2 hours, had sweated profusely and her stress levels were high. She hated to admit it, but her head and thirst were bothering her worse than the actual battle was.

But not long after, the welcome view of her squad leader's tank, flanked by running friendly soldiers and 4 other tanks could be seen, coming over the nearby sand dunes. The Imperial soldiers who were attacking them began to pull back, for now they were slightly outnumbered. The Imp tanks reversed and took cover behind the nearby rock formations; the soldiers firing from the high up rocks disappeared from view as they backed up or took cover and the ground troops moved back with the tanks.

Claudia's group cheered as they ran to reunite with the rest of their squad, Claudia following behind, but now staggering, her vision getting blurry, her head throbbing and spinning.

The sergeant of Claudia's patrol ran to the squad leader, who had appeared from the tank hatch and looked down at the sergeant as he explained the situation. Claudia just remained standing, dazed and nearly out of it. She had sweated even more as they waited for help, lost her water at the start of the attack and didn't have any new water to drink just yet.

But some angry shouting caused her to look over, "That girl, right there!" The sergeant of the group shouted. "She stopped following us and hung back, just seconds before we were ambushed. It's like she knew what to expect. I bet that's why she didn't follow us!"

"What?" Claudia said softly. And already many heads were turned towards her, glaring and staring with accusing looks in their eyes, like it was her fault the whole thing happened.

Now even the lieutenant was glaring at her, he then looked around. "Where are the other Imperial girls and the group I sent them with?"

Everyone looked around, but neither Ellen nor Elisa could be seen, the soldiers they were with weren't present either, but everyone else was.

The Lieutenant of squad 3 then looked back at Claudia, anger burning in his eyes. He then reached down into his tank; half of his body was only visible from the tank hatch as he rummaged around for something. But once Claudia saw what he brought back up, she slowly began to back away.

"Start talking!" he ordered. Handgun now cocked back, round loaded into the chamber as he then pointed it at Claudia threateningly. "Why did you hang back just seconds before the enemy ambush?

"Sir I-" Claudia started. But she didn't have time to finish, before the next question was asked.

"Where are the other Imperial girls?" he asked next. Claudia took another step back in fear, now even the rest of the squad were beginning to cock the firing bolts to their guns and rifles back while glaring at Claudia.

"I don't-"

Again she didn't get to finish, "I warned you about what would happen if I ever suspected you of betraying us!"

He then pulled the handgun hammer back with his thumb, emitting a loud click as it was ready to fire now.

Claudia quickly shut her eyes tight in fear. But instead of a gunshot going off, she heard an extremely loud and shrill shrieking sound, coming from what sounded like far away, but quickly growing louder and getting closer. And Claudia only managed to open her eyes and look slightly to her right before she saw some kind of giant, spinning blue beam of light. She followed it with her eyes, but gasped in horror as she saw it strike her Lieutenants tank and then pass right through it. The beam itself continued on, but the blast wave that followed right behind it knocked all the troops off their feet and blew them away like the force of a hurricane wind.

Claudia fell too, but everything seem to start moving in slow motion as she kept her eyes on the tank as she was falling and for a moment, it still seemed fine. But suddenly, strange blue beams of light began to appear from all over the tank. From the hatch, through the drivers view port, through the barrel and every other opening and crevice from inside the tank. Then the tank exploded into a massive, massive fireball as bits and pieces of the tank flew in every single direction.

Thankfully Claudia had hit the ground by this time and didn't get hit by any flying shrapnel as she lay on her back, in the sand. But as she lay on the ground she could hear horrible shrieks and screams from all the soldiers around her. Panicked, she sat up and looked around, but her Lieutenants tank was gone, a mere burning pile of ash and some small fragments were all that remained of his tank. There were many, many injured soldiers all around her, calling for help or crying out in pain.

Another blue, swirling beam of light appeared and struck another tank in the distance. Some soldiers, who were standing near it, disappeared as soon as the beam hit them, not even leaving any remains or evidence that there were in fact soldiers there not even moments ago. The blue and white tank then exploded just like her Lieutenants tank did and was gone. Another tank nearby tried to back into reverse and make it over the nearby dune, but it didn't make it as yet another beam appeared and destroyed that tank as well.

"_What is going on_?" Claudia thought. Did the Imperials have some kind of advanced weaponry on their side and were unleashing it onto her and her poor squad.

Claudia looked to the Imperial side, but none of them were firing. They were simply standing still, watching the devastation taking place across from them. She couldn't see what they were using to cause so much havoc and destruction. But she didn't have time to worry about that, for someone on her side shouted, "Pull back!" and what remained of her squad and the tanks began to run or drive as fast as they could, fleeing the battlefield.

Claudia climbed to her feet and began to run with the others, she didn't dare look over her shoulder now as she ran with everything she had. Behind her another shrill, shrieking noise came and she looked to her right, seeing the last Gallian tank get hit with the same beam of light, it lit up in the strange blue light, then explode.

But this time, something very large struck Claudia really hard, right in the back. The force of the blow knocked her forward, face first into the sand. She spit some sand out of her mouth, but at the same time heard something sizzling, a burning sensation in her back as well.

"Oh no… I'm hit!" Claudia cried out to any nearby allies.

The burning began to intensify, squarely on her back. Claudia writhed on the ground in pain as she tried to tear her back pack off, but it wasn't budging. So still screaming, she reached down and retrieved her bayonet blade and hurriedly cut off one of her back pack shoulder straps off. She slide her other arm out from the other strap and rolled away from her back pack. She held one hand against her injured back, whimpering in pain and fear. But when she brought her hand back and looked down at it, she didn't see any blood or anything.

"What the…" Claudia said softly. She then looked toward her backpack and saw a very large piece of burning, jagged, metal shrapnel, sticking out of her backpack. It must have been thrown by the explosion of the last tank and hit her. Claudia's eyes then grew wide, realizing that had she not been wearing her very large backpack, that piece of shrapnel would have struck her bare, unprotected back and possibly have killed her… she couldn't believe her luck after thinking of that.

The most unwelcome sound of angry, shouting Imperials came next. And Claudia looked back from her position on the ground and saw the Imperials coming towards her. Now the Imp soldiers were firing at them, the tanks firing shells that exploded all around her.

Claudia tried to get back up to continue running, but a tank shell exploded a short distance away, right in front of her and she fell back onto her stomach as sand fell on top of her from the blast. She covered her head with her hands as more explosions, shouting and gunfire went on all around her.

Claudia slowly shook her head as she remained on the ground, cheek against the hot sand. "What's the use…? I can't get away anyway…" Claudia said softly. More sand fell on top of her as she lay on the ground.

The extreme fear that she was now feeling, combined with severe dehydration was causing her to start passing out. She blinked once, her eye lids feeling heavy. She blinked again, this time slower and everything began to get dark. She blinked once more, this time her eyes stayed closed and she lost all consciousness, the screams, gunfire and explosions becoming more distant and dull sounding.

* * *

A sudden, heavy thump against her shoulder finally woke Claudia up, but how much had passed... she didn't know. And she slowly rolled over onto her shoulder and looked up, right into the barrel of a rifle. An angry looking Imperial in grey armour kept his gun trained on her, but turned his head slightly and yelled over his shoulder.

"We've got a live one here!"

Another soldier appeared, now there were two of them both aiming their rifles down at Claudia. Claudia looked down at the ground in defeat; there was nothing she could do now.

But just then, "Bring her over here, to my tank," someone ordered. But the voice sounded kind of familiar, like she had heard it before.

The soldiers looked at each other for a moment, and then put their rifles over their shoulders by the slings. Each of them grabbed an arm and began to pull Claudia away, her legs dragging through the sand, her head held low, not even looking up anymore as the Imperials continued to carry her limp body away.

She was then dropped and was now in the shade of a massive shadow. Slowly she began to push her way up from the ground, the sound of someone dropping to the ground next to her startled her for a moment.

"Let me help you up my dear," a familiar, kind sounding voice said. And she looked up and saw the kind face of General Jaeger, one hand held out to her. She reached out and took his hand and he tried to help her up, but she was still too weak to stand. So instead her helped her into a sitting position and placed her back against the massive metal tread of his tank.

He knelt down on one knee, reached out and placed his hand under her chin and raised her head up to look at her. A worried expression spread over his face, "Get this girl some water!" he ordered.

Moments later a soldier in black armour, similar to the Imperials appeared carrying a large water canteen in hand. Which he then passed to General Jaeger, bowed while placing his fist against his chest in some kind of salute, then stepped back.

Jaeger unscrewed the cap and with one hand still under her chin, slowly tipped the canteen back and let her drink. But she took in too much water, too quickly and choked slightly, pushing the canteen away and coughing. Jaeger just smiled and placed the canteen of water next to her in the sand.

"We have got to stop meeting like this, Claudia Mann," he said while chuckling. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to see you again and that you're still alive and well."

Claudia wiped her mouth, then looked up at General Jaeger and smiled thankfully.

"General Jaeger…" she said softly.

Jaeger smiled and nodded back, "Glad to see that you still remember me," he said with a smile.

Claudia slowly looked around the area, "Where is the rest of my squad?" she asked softly, still feeling weak.

General Jaeger held his head low, and then looked back up at Claudia a moment later. "I'm sorry Claudia, you're the only survivor we have found, and the rest… didn't make it."

Claudia looked extremely distraught now. "NO!" Claudia cried in anguish. "Not again… Not all of them…again…"

Jaeger reached out and placed a hand against Claudia's shoulder, "Calm down Claudia, it'll be alright…"

"General Jaeger! What are you doing?" a female voice shouted angrily.

Claudia looked past Jaeger and saw a tall female, with what looked like silver coloured hair, and burning red eyes. She must have been a high ranking officer; for she was dressed in a black officer's uniform, like the ones she had seen before. But her uniform was much more elaborate. It had golden Epaulettes on her shoulders; the kind high ranking officers wore. Which looked sort of like golden brush heads to Claudia? Her uniform also had a small, half cape, which was black on the outside, red on the inside. A high collared black officer's uniform with golden markings on the collar and black gloves on her hands. What was most surprising was that in her hands, she clutched what looked like a blue, spiral lance and shield. Whoever she was, she must have been someone of great importance, for even someone as high ranking as General Jaeger stood up and saluted her, but with a grin on his face.

"My apologies General Bles, was just tending to our Gallian prisoner here," he said. Gesturing to Claudia, with his open palm.

She glared at Claudia, "I thought I told you to show no quarter to the wounded, none shall live!"

"Now, Now Selvaria let us not be too hasty," Jaeger said. He then looked over at Claudia, "This young girl could be of some help to us."

"What do you mean?" Selvaria asked.

General Jaeger just knelt down and helped Claudia to her feet; he then placed his arm around Claudia. "She has witnessed with her own eyes, the power that you command as a Valkyria. Think of how demoralizing it would be, if she went back and told the others of what she had seen here, on this battlefield."

"I do not see the point of all of this, others shall soon see the power of the Valkyrur as well," Selvaria said. "We should just do away with this one and move on!"

But a loud radio communication came from within General Jaeger's tank, "This is Captain Kunze of the Batomys. We're currently under heavy attack from Militia Squad 7! They've disabled two of our three radiators and caused significant damage to the Batomys. We request reinforcements from any nearby allies; Lord Maximilian must be protected at all costs!"

Selvaria gasped, "His grace is in danger!" she said worriedly.

Jaeger shook his head, "Even the Batomys is having trouble against the infamous squad 7..." he said. But he then turned to Selvaria. "How about it General Bles? Should we continue to worry about this one, insignificant engineer, while Lord Maximilian is in danger?"

Selvaria shook her head, "We must rush to his majesties aid!" Selvaria shouted to the nearby Imperial soldiers and tanks gathered around her and General Jaeger. All of them raised their rifles, machine guns and lances and shouted in agreement in one loud uproar. Selvaria nodded, and then turned to Claudia Mann.

"So be it… take a message to your leaders and we shall allow you to live," she ordered. Claudia gulped nervously, but she nodded and waited, canteen still in hand. Selvaria then waved her large blue lance around the devastated area. "This is what awaits them, if they continue apposing Lord Maximilian. Tell them to surrender or face the wrath of the Valkyrur!"

Claudia was trembling, but managed to nod her head again, showing she understood her new orders. Selvaria just glared at Claudia for a moment, then turned to the rest of her soldiers. "To Lord Maximilian!" she shouted while pointing her blue, spiral lance forward. The soldiers then turned and began to run to where the Batomys was doing battle against Squad 7. The numerous tanks also leaving the area, Selvaria Bles hopped onto a nearby tank and joined them as well.

General Jaeger climbed up and began to get into his tank through the top hatch, but stopped and turned to Claudia. "Farewell Claudia, It was a pleasure to see you again. But let's both hope that we do not meet this way again!"

He smiled at her once more and then disappeared into his tank, closing the hatch. And finally his large, red and black tank began to drive away, leaving Claudia alone on the battlefield.

It was only now that Claudia began to look around at the sheer amount of destruction that that Valkyrian woman had caused, single-handedly no less. She dropped to her knees, tears forming in her eyes as she took in all of the carnage from the black, crater filled battlefield. She saw numerous dead bodies of those from squad 3 littered all across the battlefield. The destroyed, burning piles of wreckage of the Gallian tanks of Squad 3. And sadly, not one single survivor, she was all that remained once again from a squad of 40 other soldiers.

Finally, she climbed to her feet, put her large canteen of water given to her by General Jaeger over her shoulder and began the long, lonely walk back to the encampment, remembering the message from Selvaria Bles that she was to deliver.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15: The cursed girl...**

Claudia was slowly making her way back to camp, as she had been doing for nearly the last hour. But as continued walking she heard something, a distant echoing boom. First one, then many more.

"What's that?" Claudia asked aloud.

And now the explosions became louder, closer and within quicker intervals of each other. Moments later, gunfire could be heard, followed by a lot of shouting and other commotion. And now Claudia stopped walking and looked around, because it sounded like all the noise, gunfire and explosions were coming towards her. Now instead of walking forward, she actually took a step back upon seeing a large, column of black smoking rising over the nearby rock and sand hills up ahead. Another large explosion went off, and now 2 more rising columns of smoke could be seen rising skyward.

Suddenly Claudia released a surprised gasp at the sight up ahead. Because now, coming straight towards her was a large force of Imperials, all running, with battle damaged tanks following right behind the fleeing troops. All were coming right at her, with explosions happening all around them. Now she had 2 things to worry about, which were the Imperial troops coming at her and the risk of getting hit in the crossfire or getting caught in one of the many explosions happening just up ahead.

"Oh man…" Claudia thought. And she quickly looked around as the Imperials and battle were getting closer by the second.

Thankfully, she saw a large, round boulder nearby and ran towards in, and luckily, just in time too. Because as soon as she hid behind it, she saw a black jeep, carrying a man dressed in a white uniform, wearing some type of golden crown drive past, his large cape was flapping in the wind as the jeep sped past. Next many soldiers were running past on either side of the boulder that Claudia was hiding behind, with bullets flying past them or hitting some of the retreating soldiers who then fell to the ground. Some were still trying to put up somewhat of a fight as they ran a few steps, turned and tried to fire at who ever was chasing them.

She saw one shock trooper in grey armour turn and desperately spray bullets from his machine gun at his pursuers. But he then looked up, like he saw something, screamed and turned to run, but disappeared in a large explosion that sent dirt, dust and debris into the air. Claudia now closed her eyes and covered the top of her head with her hands as the explosions and gunfire continued, with more and more soldiers running past her. None seemed to notice her, or if they did, were not concerned with one lone soldier and were more concerned with escaping alive.

Suddenly, Claudia heard a familiar voice. Not of a friend or ally, but of an enemy, a very powerful and deadly one.

"You Cowards! Reform your ranks at once!" the voice shouted.

Claudia braved looking around the boulder and sure enough, she saw a single woman, with the same familiar blue flame emanating from her body. Sure enough, it was Selvaria Bles the same Valkyrian woman who had devastated her squad. She was standing next to an Imperial tank, shouting this order to her retreating soldiers, but none obeyed, all were still running away. And as she looked back at her fleeing soldiers, she momentarily locked eyes with Claudia, who was still behind the nearby boulder. She saw her, but she then turned back and not a moment too soon, for the tank which was right next to her, exploded in a ball of fire. Luckily, Claudia also pulled her head back just in time to avoid being hit by any flying debris thrown by the explosion this time.

Now Claudia once again stuck her head out from behind the boulder and in the distance she saw a large Gallian force coming over the nearby rocky hills, the same large, unique tank from Squad 7 could also be seeing leading the pursuit of the fleeing Imperials.

This caused Claudia to smile, as luck would have it, the lucky 7's were once again coming to her aid. They even seemed to be a fair match against someone like Selvaria, the Valkyrian woman.

"Yeah! Get em 7's!" Claudia cheered from behind the boulder.

Selvaria looked over at Claudia for a second and scoffed, "This ought to shut her up!"

Selvaria then looked forward once more, just in time to see the large tank from Squad 7 fire a tank shell, directly at her. She knew Claudia would be watching, so she drew back her large, blue, spiral lance and with great ease, smacked the tank shell away from herself and into the air, where it exploded a moment later, high in the sky. Next she raised her large, round shield, which began to spin and emit a shrieking sound. The shield itself was able to deflect another tank shell that had been fired at her from another tank, it bounced off and exploded in the air, the same as the last shell did.

And now the Gallians all stopped advancing, all including Claudia were staring wide eyed at this powerful woman. Who was able to deflect tank shells, of all this with just her lance, shield and strength.

Now satisfied that the headband wearing engineer was now speechless she looked towards her enemies in the distance.

"Hmph, I see Gallia's peasant army has the will to win…" Selvaria said. As she looked over rim of her shield with her glowing red eyes. She then lowered her shield and gave her head a nod, a slight sign of respect to those who caused her to be forced to withdraw. Not because they defeated her, but because her squad had suffered enough casualties and the fact that she had Lord Maximilian's safety to worry about.

She then turned and shouted "All forces Retreat! Protect his grace at all costs!" and finally, she too began to leave the battlefield.

And seeing her coming, Claudia hid behind the boulder once more, trembling in fear. She was not sure what Selvaria would do to her now, she let her go once, but would she do it again she wondered. Just then, Selvaria walked past the boulder, but continued on.

"I know you're there… but I don't have time to deal with you," Selvaria said as she looked slightly over her shoulder. "Tell your friends, that they've won nothing but time with this so called victory. Were my Lord Maximlian not in danger, I would not be forced to leave this battlefield."

Claudia nodded, yet another message that needed to be delivered on her behalf. And with that, the Valkyria left the battlefield with the rest of what remained of her squad. Claudia chose to wait a while, before coming out from behind her cover. And a few a minute or two she heard voices getting closer, thankfully this time they were friendly voices.

Claudia then took a deep nervous breath and came out from behind the boulder, but with her hands held up in the air, to show that she was not an enemy and meant no harm to the nearby Gallian militia.

Some nearby soldiers from Squad 1 came rushing towards her, and the soldiers, both female with helmets on looked her up and down.

"Where did you come from?" one asked.

"More importantly, what squad are you with?" the other asked.

Claudia lowered her hands and her head and softly replied "Squad 3... I was with squad 3."

The two girls looked at each other, "Follow us, the Captain will want to speak with you."

And they led Claudia back toward the encampment. But as she walked she saw a lot of familiar faces, looking over at her. That of Nadine, Wendy, Jane, even people like Hermes, Mica Hawkins and Vyse and Aika as well. All were in the midst of cheering, but stopped once they saw the single for of Claudia, the only Squad 3 member they had seen since the fighting had started. She wanted to talk to them, all of them, to be comforted after what had just happened. But as luck would have it, she wasn't given that option, she had to report to Captain Varrot and deliver the messages she was ordered to give by Selvaria Bles.

* * *

A short while later, there she was, inside of Captain Varrot's personal tent; it was far larger than most of the tents set up, not surprising given that Varrot was the regimental commander. Captain Varrot still was not present at the moment, nor was anyone else. So Claudia was given some time to calm herself and rehearse her lines, making sure that it would be clear the first time through.

A moment later the flap to the entrance was moved aside by a hand and Captain Varrot ducked it and entered the tent, followed by the same fat, waddling General she had seen before. Both moved to the head of the table and Claudia tried to stand up to properly salute them, but was feeling slightly dizzy and unsteady on her feet.

"No need to stand private," Captain Varrot said, slightly concerned. "And take your time in answering… what happened to your squad? You are one of only 5 members who have returned from the East."

"There are others?" Claudia asked.

Captain Varrot nodded, "Yes, the other 4 were the two Imperial girls and two more survivors from the eastern patrol. We have not been able to contact or locate the others."

"Enough chit chat!" Damon interrupted. "What happened out there, out with it!"

Claudia was slightly relieved to hear that her friends were safe, but at the same time was overcome with grief at losing yet another squad and only this time… she felt that it was her fault. She remembered how terrible her luck was and now, she lost another whole squad because of it.

Claudia's body then slumped forward, against the table and her head hit the metal top quite hard.

"Claudia!" Varrot exclaimed as she ran around the table and knelt down, slowly moving her into a sitting position, but now her head fell to the side, against Captain Varrot's shoulder and remained there.

"It's my fault…" Claudia said in barely a whisper.

"What was that?" Varrot asked. At the same time leaning in closer, with her ear now next to Claudia's mouth.

"They're all dead… and it's my fault, it's because of my bad luck…"

General Damon just grunted loudly and impatiently, "What's her problem, is she able to tell us what happened or not? I don't have all day you know."

"Bad luck?" Varrot said. Now she took off one of her gloves and held it against Claudia's forehead, then her cheeks. "This girl is burning up… how long was she out there, in the burning hot desert before they found her?

"Well?" Damon shouted.

Varrot held onto Claudia and shook her head. "No General, I do not believe she is in any condition of telling us just what happened out there. In fact, I think she should be sent back to Fort Amatriain, right now."

"Whatever, I doubt she'd have been much help anyway, militia brat!" and with that General Damon waddled back out of the tent and left the two alone.

Varrot carefully placed Claudia against the table and moved towards the tents flap and moved it aside. And Claudia heard "I need a medic in here, FAST!"

But that was all she heard before she closed her eyes and fell unconscious from grief, sadness and pure exhaustion.

* * *

The next thing she knew, she was waking up in a bed with white sheets, there was also some kind of tube in her hand, attached to a bag with some kind of liquid in it, hanging on a metal pole. She looked down and saw that she was some kind of simple, blue garments. But as she looked around and got her bearings, she guessed that she must have been in some kind of hospital and by the looks of it, a military hospital.

Now Claudia reached up, just to make sure it was still there and sure enough it was. And she smiled once she realized she was still wearing her fathers red headband.

"You wouldn't let me take it off," said a female voice. And Claudia looked over and saw a female medic with green eyes, blonde hair and some kind of blue hair band in her hair. She smiled and sat on the edge of Claudia's bed.

"I even tried taking it off when I was certain you were asleep, boy was I surprised when you reached up and grabbed my wrist as I got near it." the medic continued.

"I did… sorry about that, it's just because it's… precious to me and I don't ever want to lose it."

"Fair enough," the medic said with a smile. "I'm just glad to see you're finally awake, you've been out for nearly 4 days. But I can't say I blame you, you were suffering from severe heat exhaustion, dehydration and were completely worn out."

"Yeah, I was stationed in the Barious desert… heck of a place."

"Oh… so you're the… girl everyone's been talking about."

"What?"

The medic held her hand against her mouth, "Oh, I'm so sorry, it just slipped out…"

"What did, what are you talking about?" Claudia asked.

The medic stood up, hands held up as she backed away. "Nothing, sorry, I've got to go, I have other patients to attend to." and she left in quite a hurry.

Claudia laid back in her bed and couldn't quite understand what had just happened. She sighed and turned her head to the side, and spotted a large, white envelope with her name on it. Curious she reached out, took hold of it, then opened it.

They were orders, stating that as soon as she had awakened, she was supposed to reported a specified building, located somewhere on the base. It was the squad 3 barracks or the central office, and she was not familiar with the address. But orders were orders, so she got up and out of bed, unhooking the tube out of her hand and moving to get ready as quick as she could. Luckily, her uniform was nearby, hanging inside of a nearby wooden closet. So she put it on and went to find the exit to the base grounds.

But strangely, nearly everyone she passed stopped and stared at her, some who were even in the middle of talking also stopped and stared at her and Claudia couldn't figure out why. Their reaction to seeing her was the same as the female medics, the same fear in their eyes.

Finally Claudia found her way out and began to walk across the base, trying to find the address of the place she was supposed to report to.

As she walked and looked down at the piece of paper in her hands, she heard two familiar voices. She looked up and spotted Wendy and Jane walking nearby, but they didn't seem to have seen her yet. But Claudia smiled and made her way over to them.

"Hey Wendy! Jane!" Claudia called out. This time they turned and saw her, but they kept on going, ignoring her. Claudia couldn't make heads or tails of it, so she quickened her pace to a jog and finally caught up with them. "Hey guys, what's wrong?"

"Get away from us, girl!" Wendy said in a disgusted voice.

"Yeah, we don't want to even be near you right now!" Jane said next.

"W-what?" Claudia said. "Why not?"

The two girls stopped walking and Jane turned and approached Claudia, getting nose to nose with her. "We heard about what happened, out at Barious and it all seems a little bit suspicious to us now."

"Suspicious?"

Wendy nodded, "This is the 2nd time you've survived an enemy ambush, capture and made it back… without so much as a scratch… how is that even possible?"

"Not only that, you're entire squad was mostly wiped out… again, nearly all of them… except you and those other Imperial girls… tell us that doesn't seem the kind of strange to us or even to you."

Claudia held her head low, "I… don't know how to explain that."

"You're just plain bad luck is what you are… and we don't want any of it affecting us. So just keep your distance from us, from now on." Wendy said coldly.

"They're got a name for you around here now… Cursia. All those around you seem to suffer horrible fates, so maybe it's a good thing you didn't come back to Squad 1. This time around we suffered very few casualties, and only 1 death in our last battle. Not like last time, when you were with us at Kloden, this time Squad 3 got the worst of it and somehow you were with them… now do you see the whole picture."

Claudia's eyes began to tear up, but she closed them and nodded her head. "Yeah, I don't blame you… I've got to go now." And Claudia turned and left Wendy and Jane, now even they were afraid of her. But she hoped that not all of her friends would think the same way.

* * *

_**Hey Readers, first off I wanted to say to Runty: Sorry for using the whole "Cursia" nickname you used. You once asked me if I'd like to use it, but said I wouldn't need to... sadly, looks like I do. I couldn't think of any other fitting nickname that could be used against her by others around the base. If you don't want me to use it, I'll edit it and think of something else... eventually.**_

_**Secondly, I've got a new job, my last one was pretty exhausting. It was Monday-Saturday, around 10 to 7 P.M. and I did that all summer. My new job is only Mon-Fri, starts later in the day and no work on evenings. This leaves me with ALOT of spare time to write :), so chapters for this and my other fanfics will come out on a more steady basis. No more 1 chapter per month... I hope. It was killing me all summer that I was so busy, I couldn't find time to write :( but I don't need to go Full bore anymore and can take an easier, less busy job for the rest of the year.**_

_**Yes, things seem sad now, but be patient, good stuff is bound to happen, sooner or later**_...


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16- Guardian Angel**

Claudia was still wandering around the base, looking for the address to which she was to report to. But as her search went on, she was getting further from the central command building and the military hospital. The thing that struck her as being even stranger was the fact that the further away from the command building that she was getting, the quieter and less people that she was seeing. It was almost something to worry about, why was she ordered to go somewhere so deserted?

As she continued walking and looking down at the address and up at the nearby buildings, she heard some voices, whispering. Claudia was curious, so she searched around a little bit more and finally found a group of 4 soldiers, 2 male and 2 female, all were crowded in a small circle.

Claudia straightened up and cleared her throat loudly. "Excuse me, would you mind helping me out for a second?"

The soldiers turned, one of the females gasped. "It's her…"

And remembering what she had heard from Wendy and Jane, she knew that they were talking about her. About the cursed girl, whose bad luck would affect anyone around her, the infamous Claudia Mann.

"Yeah… it's me," Claudia said sadly. "But I need some help, I'm kind of lost."

One of the male soldiers smiled and walked up to her, "Sure thing, what do you need?" he asked.

Seeing a smile, Claudia smiled as well, a relief of sorts, to have someone not glare or show fear towards her. "Thanks, I'm looking for this place. It should be around here somewhere." And Claudia passed the paper towards the man.

He took it, looked it over and smiled once again, "Well, she's here guys, and about damned time to."

Now the soldiers all began to walk towards Claudia, one of the females, with long dark brown hair in a high ponytail began to crack her knuckles loudly and grin. The others looked like they too were ready to start a fight as well, not a good sign.

"W-what's going on?" Claudia asked. Slowly backing away as the group got closer, but after a few steps, her back hit a large metal storage that was behind her, now she had no where else to go.

"Glad to see you got our little message," the red headed man said evilly. "Didn't you notice that it was not signed or stamped by any officer on the base? We just managed to sneak one out of the head office and write the orders ourselves. Now we've got some things we'd like to discuss with you."

"Oh no… just my luck…" Claudia said in fear, she had a pretty good or rather bad idea of what would happen next.

The other man, a man with blonde parted hair walked up to Claudia and glared at her.

"That man from Squad 3, your lieutenant saved my life and the lives of everyone here, you little brat. Strange how he died, as well as everyone else from your squad and you lived," the angry man said. "Admit it; you're an Imperial spy aren't you! That's why the Imperials didn't kill you and that's why they let you go, twice!"

"More like three times, she survived out in the Kloden wildwoods as well from what I hear, her squad back then also got wiped out… but not her. No body is that lucky, not by a long shot!" an angry blonde haired female soldier said.

"But I'm not-" Claudia started, but the dark brown haired girl grabbed her by the collar of her uniform and shoved her back, right into the metal siding of the storage shed and Claudia released a yelp of pain.

"You sure do look like an Imperial, no mistaking that!"

Now Claudia braced herself for an angry beating that was sure to come any second now. But just then, "Hey… let her go…" a cold, even voice ordered.

All of the soldiers turned at once and looked back. And once Claudia opened her eyes and looked past them, she saw Marina Wulfstan of all people, ordering them to let her go.

But no one moved or was even listening to Marina's command. Instead, the blonde haired man gave of a scoff, "Tsk… who the hell are you?"

Marina just remained standing silent, face as emotionless as always. And after a few seconds she gave the same order, this time slower and louder "Let. Her. Go."

The dark brown haired girl gave her head a shake, "Get lost; this has nothing to do with you."

"Yeah, you don't know her, so why stick your nose in other people's business?"

Marina sighed loudly, but this time she removed her sniper rifle that was slung over her shoulder and propped it up against the side of the nearby shed and glared at everyone. "I've given you my final warning… let her go, or else."

"What?" the blonde haired male soldier shouted. He then began to stomp towards Marina, and Claudia felt afraid for her, it was 4 on 1 and these people seemed ready for a fight, with her or anyone who dared interfere for that matter. And Claudia cringed when she saw the male soldier grab Marina by the front of her uniform with one hand and then pulled her close to him, getting right nose to nose with her.

"You've got a lot of nerve talking to us like that; do you even know who you are trying to defend here?"

"…" Marina just looked down at the man's hand that was still holding onto her, then slowly back up at him. He then brought his hand up and formed a fist and displayed it threateningly.

"You've got some pretty dark coloured hair as well, are you also an Imperial?"

"…" Still Marina remained silent, glaring and not really moving or attempting to defend herself just yet.

"Not the talkative type eh?" the man said, he then shook his head and started to bring his fist back. "So be it, I'm going to enjoy this."

"NO! Stop!" Claudia cried, attempting to move to help Marina. But she was slammed back into the shed once more by the two girls holding onto her, preventing her from moving at all, either to help or try to get away.

"You shut the hell up! I'll kick this girl's ass, and then we're coming for you. She'll see what happens to those who try to play hero here."

But the next sound Claudia heard was a sickening crack, followed by an extremely loud, agonized scream of pain. Everyone gasped and looked back at Marina, only now the man was on his knees, his other hand clutching his arm near the wrist, which Marina was still holding onto. Except now, his wrist was at an extremely sickening angle, obviously broken. And despite the man being much bigger than Marina, she took him down in less than a second with that awesome wrist breaking move she preformed when he made the mistake of both grabbing her and turning his back to her.

Marina finally released her grip on the guy's wrist, brought her foot up and planted it against his shoulder, and then pushed him backwards and he fell to the ground. There he remained, writing in pain while holding onto his badly broken wrist.

"Why you little!" the other man growled. Leaving Claudia's side and leaving the other two girls to watch her while he was rushing towards Marina. Marina looked over and saw him coming and got ready to defend herself. And this time, when the man tried to throw a punch while running at her, Marina grabbed his arm with both hands, spun 180 degrees and used all of his momentum against him as she flipped him right over her shoulder and hard into the grassy ground and he to remained there, severely winded by the fall and out of the fight.

Now the angry blonde haired girl charged at Marina, while the other continued to hold Claudia back against the shed. Now Marina looked back up and saw yet another attacker coming right at her. Quickly, Marina raised her hands up and as soon as the girl got close and started throwing wild punches, Marina batted and knocked them away with her open hands, deflecting them off to the sides and away from her face. She then grabbed one of the girls fists and pulled her down, at the same time raising her knee up and kneeing her hard in the stomach and then bending her arm behind her back in a painful arm lock. The girl released a cry of pain from having her arm twisted so hard, and now, she was on her knees, at Marina's mercy.

Now the last girl punched Claudia hard in the stomach, sending her to her knees and preventing her from interfering while she charged at Marina. But Marina looked up and saw her coming, she then hauled the girl she was holding onto, back up to a standing position and moved her behind herself, at the same time raising her right leg out in a powerful side kick that hit the charging girl right in the stomach, knocking all the wind out of her and stopping her dead in her tracks. Next she reached forward, grabbed the winded girl by the back of the head and pulled her forward, and with her other hand, she pulled the blonde haired girl forward as well and smashed both of their heads together hard. She then pulled them apart and threw them away from herself, out to the side and they both collapsed to the ground, moaning and dazed.

She then looked towards Claudia to make sure she was alright, but she saw a horrified expression on her face, her right hand pointing towards her, or rather behind her and that was when she felt the barrel of a pistol press against the back of her head, hard.

"That's enough!" the man with the red hair ordered. He seemed winded as well as he huffed and puffed. He then looked around at his downed comrades and asked in disbelief, "Who the hell are you?"

"…I don't tell my name to scum like you…" And as soon as she finished that line, she quickly tilted her head to the side, at the same time taking a step backwards and grabbing the pistol, then twisting it hard to the side, with the mans finger still inside the trigger guard, breaking it and disarming him from his weapon. He screamed and fell to the side and now Marina had the pistol in her hands.

"Damn you!" the dark brown haired girl screamed in rage, attempting to get up and attack Marina once again.

Claudia's eyes then grew wide as saucers as she watched Marina spin around, aim the pistol at the girl and fire off two rapid shots, then she turned around, and quickly fired off some more shots at the other 3 soldiers on the ground before lowering the smoking gun.

But as Claudia looked around, none of the soldiers were dead or even shot for that matter. Instead, there were two bullet holes right near the dark brown haired girls right hand, one bullet hole in the ground near the blonde haired girls head, two on either side of the blonde haired mans head and one right between the red haired man's legs, just a few inches from his crotch. All were frozen in fear and didn't make any more attempts to attack Marina or even move an inch in any direction.

Marina gave her head a slight nod, "…I did that on purpose…" she warned, pulling back the firing hammer back with her thumb and raising the gun up into a firing position once again. "I don't have to miss…"

The dark brown haired girl gulped loudly and nodded her head, "We believe you…"

But suddenly, in the distance, they could hear shouting; it seemed people had heard the gunshots go off within the base and were coming to investigate. Marina just looked over her shoulder and scoffed, "Hmph… you're going to have to explain all of this. Now I'm taking her and leaving, don't even think about getting up or trying to follow us..."

And with a few quick hand movements, Marina ejected the ammo cartridge, removed the guns slide and disassembled the rest of the hand gun and threw it to the ground in pieces. Marina then made her way over to Claudia, picked her up off the ground and quickly left the area with her in tow, along the way she retrieved her sniper rifle and put it back over her shoulder by the sling.

* * *

After some running, Marina and Claudia then took cover behind one of the squad barracks, Marina pushed Claudia against the building and she moved forward, to the corner of the building. And now, Marina was looking around the corner, to make sure they weren't followed by Claudia's attackers or anyone else, and that was when she heard, "…nk you…"

Marina looked back and Claudia was still holding her stomach and breathing hard from all the running and having been punched, she knew that she had just said something, but since she didn't quite hear it she asked, "what?"

"I said 'Thank you' Marina… you really saved me back there… I mean it Marina, I'm really gratef-"

"…Orders…" Marina replied, cutting Claudia off before she could express any more gratitude towards her.

"What was that?" Claudia asked, now standing back up and looking towards Marina curiously.

"…Don't thank me for simply following orders…"

"I don't quite understand what you mean?" Claudia said, scratching the back of her head.

"Ask the captain, she sent me to find you," Marina replied, gesturing with her head towards the central command building.

Claudia nodded, "Alright, I will. Thanks again for saving me, I owe you one!" Claudia said. She then began to walk towards the command building, to report to Captain Varrot. But after a few steps, she heard another set of footsteps, not too far behind her.

Curious, she stopped and turned and saw Marina, who had also stopped and was now silently looking towards Claudia. Claudia just looked forward once more and continued on walking. But again she heard another set of footsteps following her and as she looked back while walking, she saw Marina following her, about 15 steps behind her. And just to be sure, Claudia turned to the right and walked a few steps, then came to a halt and turned around, and sure enough Marina was still there.

"It's alright Marina, I'm fine how, and we're out in the open grounds of the base. I don't think anyone else is going to try to attack me again," Claudia said, rubbing the back of her neck nervously.

Marina just remained silent and shrugged, thinking she got the message, Claudia continued on, but once again heard Marina following her from a distance. And this time, she could feel her intense stare burning a hole right in her back, near her engineer's symbol.

And once again Claudia stopped and turned towards Marina, "Maybe we're both going to the same place, but could you please stop following me, maybe walk ahead of me instead."

Marina just remained silent and gave her head a slow shake, a sign of no. Claudia bit her bottom lip nervously, "Alright, it's just that… it's kind of uncomfortable being followed and stared at so intensely."

Marina just shrugged her shoulders, "Best get used to it… I'll be watching you… under orders of Captain Varrot."

Claudia gasped, "T-the captain asked you… to spy on me?" she asked, "Why would she do that?"

And Marina sighed and closed her one eye and thought a few days back to when she had received her new orders.

* * *

_**"This must be the captain's office," Marina thought to herself as she stood just outside of the office that she was ordered to report to, the address matched the sign on the door. She had just received word that the Captain wished to see her, but was told nothing further about what it entailed.**_

_**Marina then reached out and knocked softly three times, "Come in," Captain Varrot replied from within.**_

_**Marina then turned the knob and slowly opened the door and poked her head in, spotting the captain sitting at a large, wooden desk with some papers laying about on top. Marina then entered the room and was quietly in awe about how large and spacious it was. Even more so after she realized that this single room was far larger than her entire hunting cabin in the mountains, located in Northern Gallia.**_

_**But Marina shook that thought away as she marched up to the captains desk and came to attention, moments later bring her right hand up to her eyebrow and holding it there in a proper and respectful salute to her Captain.**_

_**"Marina Wulfstan, reporting as ordered," she said loud and clear.**_

_**The Captain saluted her back and said "At Ease, Private Wulfstan." And Marina assumed the ordered position, with her hands held together behind her back as she looked straight ahead.**_

_**"Private, I've called you here today, because I have a favour to ask," said Varrot, her hands were cupped together and she rested her chin on top of them.**_

_**"Ma'am?" Marina asked. She was unsure why she would ask for something and not order it.**_

_**"Do you know a girl, by the name of Claudia Mann?"**_

_**Marina nodded, "Yes, we served in the same squad once and we roomed together at the start of the recruitment drive."**_

_**"Well, I called you here today, because I would like to assign her to you. You two are familiar with each other and served together, so I'd like to pair her up with you."**_

_**"…"**_

_**Captain Varrot could tell by the slight scowl that she had on her face that Marina wasn't pleased about this whole idea. "You may speak freely, Private," said Varrot. "Will you do this for me?"**_

_**"…No…" Marina replied flatly, "I will not do this, assign the task to someone else."**_

_**Captain Varrot sighed and got up from her desk and walked to the nearby window and looked out, "You know Marina… I know about your... condition." said Varrot. She reached up and tapped her glasses on the left side with her index finger, indicating that it was either her left eye or the left side of her face that she was talking about.**_

_**Marina lowered her head and brushed some more hair over the left side of her face, like she thought that might further hide her left eye from view than it already was.**_

_**Captain Varrot then continued, "Military Regulations should have had me deny you service as a sniper, for it might interfere with your shooting or while in combat."**_

_**Marina grunted angrily, "Are you threatening me, Captain Varrot?"**_

_**Captain Varrot turned around and looked at Marina for a few silent seconds before responding "…No… I'm simply stating that I granted you a favour, because I know how skilled of a sharp shooter that your father was. He was the best sniper in all of the Gallian militia during the last war and served his country greatly. I know, I was there, I was his partner, his spotter during the last war."**_

_**Marina sighed, "My father is dead now…"**_

_**"I know, I heard about what happened to your town at the start of the war. It's why I had you transferred directly to my regiment when you signed up to fight," said Varrot. "I don't think other commanders would allow someone with… your condition to become a sniper."**_

_**"My condition has not hampered my performance or my marksmanship at all. I'll let my service record and enemy kill counts speak for that."**_

_**"Lastly, this Claudia Mann, is the daughter of David Mann," said Varrot.**_

_**Marina's one visible eye looked off to the side for a moment, then back at Captain Varrot. "It was Sergeant David Mann who served with your father and was the closest thing he had to a friend, he was there for him when… your mother was killed, and he helped him get through it."**_

_**"..." still Marina didn't reply.**_

_**"He even helped me when I lost a dear friend... I owe that man so much, the least I can do is help his daughter out in this war however I can," Varrot said with some sadness in her voice.**_

_**Marina nodded her head, "Ma'am I…"**_

_**"Go ahead, speak your mind freely." Varrot said softly.**_

_**"I'm not fighting this war for you or for Gallia, I'm searching for someone, the man who killed my father," said Marina. "The fastest way I will find him, is if I serve in the militia. So I'm not here to baby sit the daughter of a man my father once knew, I just want to find this enemy ace, kill him and be done with it."**_

_**Captain Varrot nodded her head, "Tell you what, do this favour for me and I will grant you yet another favour."**_

_**"Ma'am?" Marina asked.**_

_**"Keep an eye on Claudia Mann for me and I promise; I will use all my resources and powers as regimental commander to help you locate the Imperial Sniper Ace that you are searching for. I think you'll find him that much faster if we help each other out here."**_

_**Marina remained silent for a second then sighed, "Very well, I still don't know why you want me to watch her for you and not someone else."**_

_**Varrot lowered her head sadly, "People are angry at the losses we've been suffering, and are looking for someone to vent their anger towards. Poor Claudia, I know that people will most likely be after her, because she's been one of the very few who has made it back alive in some of our most devastating loses."**_

_**"And you don't think that's the least bit strange, Captain?" Marina asked.**_

_**Captain Varrot shook her head, "No… if Claudia Mann is even one tenth of the 'Mann' that her father was, then I know that I can trust her. Still… she was raised by her mother's side of the family and her mother was… never mind, just watch over Claudia. Both to make sure she stays safe and that she is fully on our side in this war, her father I trust with my life, her mother…"**_

_**Marina sighed once more, "Alright Captain, I'll keep an eye on her, in return, tell me once you know anything about the Imperial sniper ace that killed my father at the start of the war…"**_

* * *

"Marina… Marina!" Claudia called out, snapping Marina back to the present time. "What was it, what did the Captain say?"

Marina shook her head, "Nothing… she has her reasons… as do I for following such orders," said Marina. "Go now, report to the Captain, she's waiting for you."

Claudia still did not know what to make of this, did the Captain really not trust her and assigned an aide or someone to watch over her for the time being. Either way, she'd find out once she reported to the Captain and got filled in on everything that had happened since the Barious incident.

* * *

_**Hey Readers, I kind of got the whole idea of a silent follower of Claudia after watching "Last Samurai". In that movie there was 1 'Silent Samurai' who followed Tom Cruises character around, but never said a word to him, but was always there, right behind him, silently following and watching over him. If anyone did that, I could picture Marina doing that. But not for no reason, there had to be a very good reason for her to do so and I thought this little bit up for Marina's story. Which I will dive deeper into later on in the story... But as always, enoy the newest chapter and please... Read and Review :)**_


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17- Memories past**

Claudia was walking down the hallways of the central command building, headed for Captain Varrots office. All the way there she could hear Marina's footsteps following a short distance behind her. Now, she had questions and was hoping to get some answers. Why did she have to be followed? Why assign Marina to her and not someone else, someone more familiar like Nadine? What was it that she wanted to discuss? Whatever it was, Claudia hoped to finally get some answers.

Finally she arrived just outside of Captain Varrot's office. Claudia was nervous, so she took a deep, slow breath and breathed out through her nostrils. Behind her she heard Marina come to a stop as well and once she looked back, she spotted her lean back against the far wall and cross her arms across her chest.

Marina didn't say anything, but the slight forward nod of her head showed that she wanted Claudia to knock on the door. Claudia swallowed hard and nodded hear head in response to Marina. She looked forward and knocked on the door a few times and waited.

"Enter!" she heard Captain Varrot's voice say. And Claudia did just that, she turned the knob and entered the office, Marina following behind her and closing the door for her. But she advanced no further into the office as she once again leaned back against the door and waited.

Claudia looked back and wandered if it was alright for her to be here; the Captain did order just her to enter and made no mention of Marina joining them.

"Don't mind her, she's welcome to stay as well," Varrot said, almost as if she had read Claudia's mind just now.

"Un…" said Claudia, finally turning back to look at her Captain. She then marched up to the desk, raised her hand up in a salute and said loud and proper, "Ma'am, Private Claudia Mann, reporting as ordered."

Captain Varrot smiled, got up and returned the salute before saying "At ease, Private Mann."

Claudia assumed the at-ease position and looked straight ahead, her hands held together behind her back.

"I'm glad to see that you're awake and seemingly feeling better," said the Captain.

This caused Claudia to blush slightly; Captain Varrot always seemed to be so nice to her. It was a welcome feeling, the kind of care she wished that she could get more often from her squad mates or anyone else for that matter.

"T-thank you… Captain…" Claudia said sheepishly.

"The reason I called you here was to ask if you were ready to tell me what happened out in the Barious region," said Varrot. "What happened and how were you able to survive while no one else did?"

Before Claudia answered she lowered her head, kind of sadly. "Do… do you also think that I'm an Imperial spy? Everyone else does…"

Varrot sighed, "I am not those people... I am your Captain. And I believe I asked you a question just now."

"Sorry Ma'am… what happened out there was-" And Claudia narrated the entire ordeal. From the time she set out, to the time she got ambushed and why she was let go.

Captain Varrot was staring out the nearby window; her hands were behind her back. After Claudia was finished, Varrot gave her head a nod. "I see… so you also faced off against this General Selvaria Bles."

"Yes Ma'am," Claudia said. "She was so… powerful and deadly. I didn't even know that it was her that was wiping us out, not until I was captured and ordered to give those two messages to you and the other higher ups."

"Yes, we have seen just what kind of damage she can do," said Varrot, "Is that everything?"

"Yes ma'am!" Claudia responded loud and clearly, with a salute as well this time.

"I have another question, of a different topic…" said Varrot in an almost sad tone. She then took her seat and cupped her hands together, briefly rested her forehead against her hands before looking back up at Claudia. "Your mother…"

A sweat began to form on Claudia's face, her heart began to pound. "M-my mother?"

Captain Varrot nodded, "What was it like, growing up with her I mean."

Varrot could see that Claudia was starting to get uncomfortable; she began to fidget as she stood at ease. Varrot knew that it was a sad and clearly uncomfortable topic, but these questions needed to be asked. Varrot knew something that Claudia might not, so she needed to be sure.

"Life was… good…" Claudia said, looking off to the side. "She raised me like any kind, caring and loving mother would…"

"Did she have you attend public school, private school or were you home schooled?"

"I attended public school… like everyone else in my hometown, can't say I liked it very much." said Claudia, her hands were starting to sweat as she held them together behind her back. She couldn't stop tapping her fingers together as well.

"What did she spend her time doing, what line of work did she have?" Varrot asked next, now she was also starting to get nervous.

"I don't know… part-time jobs, she had to raise me and my little sister after all."

"Little sister?" Varrot asked. This was news to her ears.

"Not blood related, we adopted her…" Claudia's voice cracked in sadness. She was having a hard time keeping her composure while talking about these sensitive subjects. Her mother was dead after all and she couldn't locate her sister since they got separated that day.

Captain Varrot nodded, "Lastly… do you know how your parents met each other, and did she ever talk about it to you?"

Claudia lowered her head sadly, "No, father was a subject we never talked about much at home. My mother would always become so sad and start crying whenever I would mention him or ask about him. All she would tell me was that he was a great man and that she missed him so much…"

Captain Varrot nodded, stood up and made her way around her large desk and grabbed a nearby chair. She then placed the chair directly behind Claudia and gestured her to sit in it. She obeyed and sat in the chair, lowering her head and trying to hold back tears that were welling up in her eyes.

Varrot then leaned back against her desk, placing her hands on top of the desk and taking a deep breath and breathing out in a long sigh. "I feel it important to tell you this, Claudia Mann…" Varrot said. Claudia looked back up at her and was now starting to get nervous by the uncertainty in her Captain's voice.

"Your mother… was an Imperial." said Varrot. "She was a soldier, serving in the Imperial army during the last war."

Claudia's heart froze in her chest; her breath seemed to leave her at that very moment. She leaned forward and held her hand to her chest. Her eyes darting back and forth after hearing this, all kinds of thoughts and emotions hitting her at once. But one thought among all of them hit her, a burning question in her mind.

"Then… then that makes me…" Claudia said with a trembling voice.

Captain Varrot nodded, "Yes… half-Imperial…"

Now Claudia was feeling nearly every emotion that she could feel. Fear, at how much something like this might change things for her. She knew how Jane and Wendy felt towards Imperials and now that she was at least half-Imperial, maybe they'd might to want to almost kill her as well. Anger, towards her own mother most of all. Not telling her own daughter about her true heritage and making Claudia think that she was 100% Gallian all this time was something to be slightly angry about. Embarrassed, at the fact that she had denied each and every time someone accused her of being an Imperial.

As more thoughts were swirling through her head, she felt a hand plant itself on her shoulder. She looked up and saw Captain Varrot looking down at her with some sympathy in her eyes.

"It's alright Claudia, there's nothing wrong with being half-Imperial, it also means that you're half-Gallian and I think that side is much stronger than your Imperial side," she said. "If your mother didn't tell you that she was once an Imperial soldier, then I'm happy to tell you that that means that she completely rejected that part of her life and wanted to be Gallian, like your father, her husband was."

Claudia nodded her head, "But still…"

"Your father was the one who saved your mother the day we found her…" said Varrot. She adjusted her glasses and looked off to the side slightly and began to tell the story.

* * *

_It was early in the war, and militia squad 1 was in battle against a small Imperial force. They were the remains of a much larger Imperial force that Squad 1 and the regulars had defeated a few days earlier and were now occupying a small border town called 'Lavrone'. The regulars sent squad 1 ahead of the main army to clear out the town while they provided back up… later._

_On the northern side of the town, a small squad of about 8 soldiers were moving through the streets, engaging Imperials along the way. Two of them were brothers and had their backs pressed against the wall of a building, located right next a small street. They could hear the rapid firing sounds of a machine gun emplacement, not far up the street, spraying bullets across the street at their nearby comrades._

_The brother in front, David Mann, looked back at his older brother, Robert Mann and made a hand gesture. A gesture of him pulling an invisible grenade pin and throwing it in the direction of the machine gun emplacement. Robert nodded and reached down to his belt to retrieve a grenade, while David loaded a fresh machine gun clip into his gun and cocked the bolt back back. He waited until the machine gun stopped firing, before coming out from behind cover and began to fire at the machine gun emplacement, suppressing it and its crew. It was now that Robert ran out into the middle of the street, pulled the cord to his stick grenade and threw it with all his might at the machine gun emplacement. Luckily, the grenade flew into the building's window and a split second later, exploded violently. Some dust, chunks of rock and other debris were thrown out of the windows opening and rained down onto the street below._

_Robert lowered his head for a moment and breathed a sigh of relief. But at the same time, David looked up into a nearby window sill on the 2nd floor of the hotel across the street and saw a gun barrel appear from out the window, aimed at his brother._

_"Rob! Rob!" David called out while aiming his machine gun up at the window. But when he squeezed the trigger, the only sound that came was a click; he had fired all of his bullets in his suppressing fire move earlier. Now Robert turned his head and saw an enemy sniper aiming at him, but he was frozen with fear and unable to move._

_"ROB!" David cried out._

_Just then, two loud gunshots rang out from just behind David. The next instance the Imperial sniper's came falling out from the window, followed directly by his body. His limp body hit the ground hard, he was dead and the threat was neutralized . Some beads of cold sweat fell from Roberts head as he slowly turned his head and looked back, same with David. They both looked to the rooftop just behind them and saw two snipers, one male and one female._

_"All Clear!" a male voice shouted. The female gave a thumbs up, also to indicate that the threat had been eliminated._

_David held a hand to his rapidly beating heart and breathed a sigh of relief. He was too shook up to respond, but he waved to them nonetheless, thanking them for saving his brother. He quickly reloaded his machine gun and ran up to Robert, looking at him with relieved eyes and patting him on the shoulder. But he became too emotional and then hugged him, Robert returned the hug to his brother, glad to still be with him._

* * *

_Less than an hour later the sounds of battle were beginning to die down. With only short bursts of machine gun fire or rifle fire being exchanged every now and then, but not where David and Robert were. They were on the far north side of the town, with other soldiers from squad 1. They were watching the small remnants of Imperial soldiers retreating down the road or into the nearby fields, away from the town itself. The day was theirs, the Imps were on the run and abandoning the town._

_David and the others then heard the bugle call to regroup, coming from the center of town. Everyone else began to leave, Robert as well. But he stopped once he looked back and saw that his brother was looking down the street, at a burning garage less than a block ahead. There were dead Imperial soldiers all around the garage and it was on fire, the roof partially collapsed as well._

_"What's up bro?" Robert asked._

_David held his hand up, "Shh! be quiet…" David said, turning his head to the side, tilting his ear in the direction of the garage. That was when he could hear a loud banging sound, coming from the garage itself, possibly from inside._

_"What is it?" Robert asked, looking at his brother and then towards the garage._

_"Something's not right…" David said. He then looked at his brother, "I'm going out there."_

_David then began to run towards the garage, "David you fool! We don't know what's out there; there could be more Imps that way for all we know!" But David paid not attention to his brother and kept on running; Robert just shook his head and decided to follow him._

_Soon David was next to the garage, but his machine gun was up against his shoulder as he looked around at the dead Imps that littered the area. **This was a smart idea**…, David thought worriedly. There were no friendly units around and he wasn't entirely sure that all the Imps were gone from the area. But he suddenly remembered why he was there, because once again he heard a loud banging sound, coming from within the burning garage. Only this time, he could for sure hear a woman screaming from inside, the banging continuing as well._

_**Someone's definitely in there!** David thought and he put his machine gun down and opened the nearby wooden door and went inside. His brother Robert called out his name in vain as he watched him enter the burning building from afar._

_Now David was inside, the roof was burning and raining down bits of burning wood, bits of metal were falling from the collapsed roof and smoke filled the air. He held a hand to his mouth and coughed, but was able to call out, "Is there anyone in here?"_

_There was the body of an Imperial soldier on the floor; a metal beam from the roof appeared to have crushed him sadly. But suddenly David heard a woman scream, coming from the far side of the garage. David quickly moved around a crushed Imperial jeep and made his way towards the back of the garage. And that was when he saw some movement through the smoke, followed by a woman crying out something in a language that he didn't understand. He moved closer, but as soon as the smoke cleared, he saw a metal cabinet blocking a small doorway to the back of the garage. The same loud pounding sound came next, followed by the screaming woman's voice and it was now that David realized that there was someone trapped in the next room that was blocked by the large metal cabinet that held the shops tools._

_David looked at the cabinet and roughly judged that he may be able to move it, if he tried hard enough. "Alright, move back, I'm going to get you out!"_

_David then thrust his shoulder hard against the metal cabinet and began to push with all his might, groaning and grunting with effort. As he looked over he could see that the fire was getting more intense, but his biggest concern was the large black gas canister located next to the jeep. If it was filled with fuel, it could explode if the fire reached it within the next few minutes. But despite that concern, his main focus was on getting the poor trapped woman out before that happened._

_Now, with the help of the adrenaline pumping through his veins, he managed to move the metal cabinet back just a bit and it let out a loud squeal of grinding metal as it moved against the wall. He adjusted his footing and stepped forward once more and the cabinet moved even more, hopefully it was moved far enough now._

_"Come on! I don't know how much longer I can hold it!" David cried. His muscles and arms were shaking as he held the cabinet out of the way. Thankfully, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a body crawl out from the back room and out into the main garage area. He then let go of the cabinet and it fell back into place while he fell back against the garage floor. This time, he felt hands grab his arm and try to pull him up to his feet._

_David then quickly climbed back to his feet and looked at the girl he saved, but with all the smoke in the area, he couldn't clearly see her. But now she was grasping onto him and he could feel her trembling in fear against his body. Concerned for nothing more than her saftey he held onto her as well._

_"Hold on, I'll get us out of here!" David said. He then tried to retrace his steps back towards the exit, with the girl still holding onto him._

_Meanwhile, Robert was outside, waiting for his brother to return while he kept a look out for any other Imperials who might be nearby or come back. He really didn't like the idea of it being just the two of them, out here, away from the rest of the squad that was gathering in the center of the town._

_Suddenly, he jolted in surprise when he heard a door crash open just behind him. He raised his rifle and turned 180 degrees and looked down the iron sights. He then moved his rifle aside when he saw his brother on the ground, he was coughing after inhaling so much smoke. There was also someone else on the ground next to him, it sounded like a girl, judging from the coughing._

_David then sat up and turned to his brother, "Where the hell were you?"_

_"I was out here, securing the area… where the hell were you?"_

_"Inside, rescuing someone that was trapped in there," said David amidst plenty of coughing._

_Robert nodded and looked at the person that his brother had just rescue and slowly she began to sit up, still coughing as well. She then turned towards them and that was when Robert fell back and began to back away in fear._

_But David was in the middle of tipping his canteen back and taking a drink of water, which was when he heard a gun cock back. At the same time he felt a pair of hands grab the back his of shirt, followed by a head press against his back. He looked towards his brother, only to be surprised at the sight of him aiming his rifle at him._

_"Robert?" David asked._

_Robert waved the barrel of his gun slightly to the side, "Move aside David, that girl there is an Imp!"_

_"What?" David asked in surprise. He looked over his shoulder, but could only see a head of long black hair. The girl was hiding behind David, still holding onto him and trembling in fear. She was also speaking very quickly in a language that David couldn't understand._

_Finally, she raised her head up and David looked into a pair of tear filled green eyes, seemingly begging him not to hurt her. Again she spoke very quickly and this time was pointing at his brother Robert with a trembling hand._

_David could only guess at what she was saying, seeing how she was speaking in her native language. Judging from the quickness of her speaking, the tone of her voice and the fear in her eyes, he guessed that she didn't want his brother aiming his weapon at her. David nodded and turned back to his brother Robert, one hand raised up towards him, the other pushing the girl behind himself and shielding her with his body._

_"Robert, lower your weapon," David instructed, waving the rifle down with his raised up hand._

_Robert looked at his brother, then back to the girl and shook his head. "No… No! That's an Imp that you're protecting, do you realize that!" Robert shot back. "We've been fighting these people all day and lost many men to them… and now you want to protect one?"_

_David shook his head, "Brother… she's alone, unarmed and frightened. She's no longer a threat; I certainly don't see her as one now."_

_Finally Robert lowered his weapon slowly and nodded his head in agreement. He couldn't help but feel slightly sorry for how scared the lone Imperial girl looked, hiding behind his own brother for protection._

_David sighed deeply, then turned to the girl and looked down at her. She was still visibly trembling and holding her hands together in front of her. Her slouched posture did indeed show that she was quite frightened. David just smiled at her, and then held his water canteen out to her, showing that he meant no harm and wanted to help._

_The girl looked a little bit unsure of whether or not she should take it, but soon nodded her head and reached out and took the canteen. She tipped it back with two hands and drank, then lowered the canteen and bowed slightly in respect and gratitude to her saviour._

_It was now that David took a good look at the girl that he rescued. She had long, black hair. Dark green eyes, much like other Imperial girls that he had seen before. She wore the uniform of an Imperial soldier however. Which included; the light grey pants with a red stripe running down the middle on each pant leg. A pair of black combat boots and a light grey jacket. But strapped to her back was a large backpack, probably holding supplies and a tool belt that held many different kinds of tools and multiple pouches. She seemed to have lost her rifle and had no sidearm attached to her belt. This gave David a rough idea of what class she was, seeing as how Imperials didn't mark the class of soldier visibly on the front or back of their uniforms like the Gallians did._

_"I think this girl is an engineer," David said to his brother._

_"An Imperial engineer," Robert corrected._

_The girl nodded, "Yes… Engineer," she said softly, but with a heavy accent._

_"You… speak our language?" David asked._

_She nodded in response, "Yes, some… a little."_

_David smiled, "My name is David, David Mann. What's yours miss?"_

_The girl smiled, "Martha, Martha Karoline"_

_It was now that David and Robert heard a large truck approaching. They turned to see a blue and white jeep, carrying 4 regular soldiers, and were driving towards them. Also, walking towards them were a male and a female sniper, from what had to be Squad 1, their squad._

_The jeep then pulled up to the two brothers and everyone got out. A man, who couldn't have been more than 20 or so walked up to David, looked at him, then to his prisoner._

_"Well done soldier, you've secured a fine looking prisoner here," he said with a smile. "Return to your squad. We'll take her from here, to the other Imperial prisoners that we've captured."_

_"Sorry sir, but I don't think-" David started._

_However, a much larger soldier, a lancer cut him off. "The sergeant just gave you an order, private!" he shouted. Even he outranked David, being a corporal. "Now you'll obey and you'll like it!"_

_David looked back at the Imperial girl with sad eyes, and then nodded his head. Sadly there was nothing he could do. So he stepped aside and the other two soldiers walked forward, each grabbed an arm and led the Imperial girl towards the jeep. Once she was in the back, she turned and held the canteen she still had in her hands out towards David._

_He held his hands up and shook his head, "Keep it… I'll come and get it back later."_

_She seemed to understand and nodded her head, then held the canteen tight against her chest as the jeep began to drive away. Martha kept her eyes on David the entire time, until the jeep turned into town and disappeared from view._

_David lowered his head sadly, and then felt his brother rest his hand on his shoulder. "There was nothing else that you could have done. But think of it this way, she's alive thanks to you. I'm sure that she's happy about that. Now that she's a prisoner, she won't have to worry about fighting anymore."_

_"I know, but the poor girl was separated from her unit and left behind… can't help but feel a little sad about that."_

_Just then, "Hey, you there." said the male sniper, pointing at David. "What's your name?"_

_David turned and looked at the male and female sniper, both had black hair. The female bore a squad 1 patch, had her long hair tied in a high ponytail and a pair of glasses rested on her face. However, she had a happy smile on her face as she looked at David. The male looked tough, had short black hair and didn't smile, but somehow he looked slightly impressed._

_"I'm David, Private David Mann of squad 1."_

_The tough looking squad 1 sniper nodded his head, reached back and retrieved a silver flask from his belt and opened the top. This, he held out to the young private and said "Private Mann, if you would so honour me with a drink."_

_"Huh?" David said, a confused expression spreading across his face._

_The female sniper nodded, her smile never fading. "We watched from our position above and… that was the damnedest thing we've ever seen. Saving that girl and treating her with such honour and respect…" she said, she then reached out. "May I shake your hand, Private Mann?"_

_David blushed slightly, then reached out, shook the female snipers hand first and nodded to her. Then took the flask from the male soldier and took a quick sip, coughing as the strong alcohol burned his mouth and throat going down and handed it back to the tough looking sniper. He nodded, raised the flask to David in cheers and respect, and then took a sip as well. But he handled it a lot better than David did, never coughing or showing that it burned._

_"I'm sorry, I never got your names," David said, hand against his burning throat._

_The tough looking male sniper raised his right hand up in a respectful salute, "Corporal Victor Wulfstan." he stated plain and simple._

_The other girl however smiled brightly and also saluted respectfully, "Private Eleanor Varrot, please to meet you."_

_

* * *

_

"That was how I met your father, one of the bravest men I had ever seen that early into the war," said Varrot. "He gained my respect and the respect of many others throughout the war. You should be very proud of him."

Claudia nodded, tears welling up in her eyes as she held a hand against her fathers red headband that was on her head. "Thank you, he sounds like such a great and honourable man."

Varrot nodded, and then turned to Marina Wulfstan. However she was leaning against the far door, not really looking the least bit interested, even when the story involved her very own father. Captain Varrot then asked, "Marina, now that you know that Claudia is half-imperial, will you still follow my previous order?"

Marina pushed herself away from the door and slowly walked towards the Captains desk, she shrugged her shoulders, "So Claudia is half-imperial… I care not." she said flatly. "If you'll still honour our agreement then yes, I'll still follow your orders."

Varrot nodded her head, "Good, congratulations then, you've just made the rank of Corporal." said Varrot, reaching into her desk and placing the said rank on top of the wooden desk and sliding it towards her.

"Ma'am?" Marina asked, sounding slightly surprised.

"You've proven that you are qualified for this rank and shown great fairness to all soldiers, even those half or full Imperial. Therefore, I award you the rank of corporal. You're a higher rank now, so Claudia will have to follow your orders as you watch over her."

Marina just sighed, "…So be it…" she said, taking the corporal patch and putting it in her front pocket.

"Captain, I have other questions." Claudia said, eager to hear more about her father or mother.

Captain Varrot shook her head, "Questions come later, and I have to assign new missions and orders for the rest of the squads. Take care Claudia, it was an honour to talk to the daughter of a soldier I held in such high regards during the last war."

Claudia understood that the Captain had a lot of work ahead of her, so she didn't bother asking anymore questions. Still, she found out a little bit more about her father and that made her smile. To be the daughter of such a brave, kind, and fair man was definitely something to be proud of.

* * *

_**Greetings readers, just to defend my point; The personal biographies of each soldier was only 2 or 3 paragraphs long. Who's to say that there was more, much more to their background than was stated in-game. Also, I really really felt that the issue of addressing half-Imperials should have been addressed in VC1 or even in VC2. There must have been half-Gallian/half-Imperial in the game or maybe even full Imperial, wanting to serve Gallian over the Empire. I feel that if 'Mikhail' in the anime had surived, maybe he would have wanted to serve Gallian instead.**_

_**Also, in world war 2 there were interned Japanese/german soldiers that were offered freedom from the camps in turn for military service. To prove their loyalty to the US or Canada. Also, with someone I talked with, there MUST have been German, Canadian/American or any soldier from both sides of the war, be they whatever who met during World War 1 or even EW1, had children and had their poor children face dilemmas as to which side of the war to offer their military service to.**_

_**Anyways, as always, Read and review; what did you think of this little twist, again completely my own, not based on game or anime facts...**_


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18- Not so cold afterall...**

Claudia was fast asleep, dreaming a sweet dream for once. She was back in her hometown of Port Water. Walking the streets, hearing the familiar sounds of the city, once again. Car horns blaring, people talking, pigeons cooing from the buildings above. It was the sights, sounds and everything else that she had nearly forgotten since moving to Randgriz city with her uncle, after the horrible events that happened to her hometown at the start of the war.

But all of that was taken away in an instant, by a sudden and hard kick against the metal posts of her bed. Claudia cried out in surprise, bolted up right and looked around. It was then that she saw Marina Wulfstan, calmly standing at the front of her bed. She was already fully dressed in her uniform and even had her sniper rifle over her right shoulder by the strap.

"Get up… time to start the day…" Marina said softly. "I want you up, dressed and ready in no more than 15 minutes time, understood?"

However, even though she asked the question, she simply turned on her heels and was already walking out of Claudia's one bedroom room, given to her by Captain Varrot. She still had not been assigned to a squad yet, so this was her temporary set-up within the halls of the Central Command building.

Claudia looked over at the clock on her nightstand nearby, "Oh man… 6:00 A.M." Claudia groaned, "Marina… why do we have to be up so early on a Sunday! There's no training or anything scheduled for today!"

Marina stopped just as she neared the door, but didn't turn around, "Get up private… that's an order…" Marina ordered firmly. She then opened the door and left Claudia's room.

Unable to disobey an order given to her by Marina, a Corporal now, Claudia lowered her head and sighed. "Just my luck… I get paired with an earlier riser." Still, Claudia got up, put on her uniform and quickly combed her hair, tied her father's headband around her forehead and set out to report to Marina.

She found her the moment she set foot out of her room, leaned up against the nearby hallway wall. Once Marina saw her she softly pushed herself away from the wall and walked up to Claudia. "Come, time for training." she said, she then led Claudia quietly out of the building.

* * *

They were heading for the main gates, leading out of the base. As they were walking, Claudia's stomach let out a loud, long, hungry growl. This caused Marina, who was walking ahead of Claudia, to look back and glare slightly at her.

Claudia chuckled nervously, "S-sorry… guess I'm feeling a little bit hungry at the moment. Say, why don't we stop for a bite to eat at the Mess hall… but I don't think they're open yet, are they?"

Marina didn't respond, the slight shake of her head was her answer, an answer of 'No'.

"B-but what about Breakfast? Shouldn't we eat something first before we start training?"

Marina looked down at her wristwatch, "That's where we're going… it'll be ready when we get there."

"What?" Claudia exclaimed, "What will, Breakfast?"

Again, Marina just responded with a nod of her head, never looking back at Claudia as she did so.

The two then walked a bit longer, towards a shed near the exits. As they got closer, Claudia saw some kind of reddish, orange coloured light coming from just behind a pile of boxes. Once they were a bit closer, Claudia saw some smoke rising from behind the boxes. Now, a thought came into her mind, one that made her worry.

"FIRE!" Claudia cried out, "There's a fire over h-" A hand to her mouth stopped her before she could finish. She was then met with an icy cold glare from Marina. She then slowly raised a finger to her lips. "Shhh… quiet. It's still early… too early for that kind of noise."

"Eh?" A voice from behind the boxes said, "Who was that just now?"

"I do not know…" said another female voice, sounding just a little bit timid.

With Marina's hand still against her mouth, Claudia looked towards the boxes and first saw Alicia Melchiott stand up, she smiled and waved at the two. Next a shy looking girl with shiny, blonde hair in large curls looked over. She had a giant, pink bow in her hair, tied at the back and looked to be very timid, shy and quiet in nature as she just nodded her head to the two girls.

Marian finally removed her hand from Claudia's mouth and continued on, towards Alicia and the other shy girl.

"Good morning Marina, got your breakfast right here for you, as always!" Alicia said cheerfully as she handed her a tin pan with fresh baked bread, eggs, an apple and some strips of bacon. Marina propped her sniper rifle against the shed, took the offering from Alicia and bowed her head slightly in gratitude.

"Thank you, Sergeant Melchiott…" Marina said softly.

Alicia chuckled nervously while rubbing the back of her neck. "I keep telling you… just call me Alicia."

"Yes… Sergeant Melchiott…"

Alicia just dropped her head and sighed, "That's fine, I'm sure you'll warm up to it someday."

Alicia then turned towards Claudia, "Oh… I did not know that we were going to be having company."

"She's been assigned to me… she goes where I go…" Marina said as she walked towards a far pile of stacked crates and sat on top of them, she then silent began to eat her breakfast.

"Assigned to you... why?" Alicia asked curiously, turning her head and looking at Claudia.

Now Claudia began to sweat nervously, would Marina tell them that she was looking out for her because she was half-Imperial?

Thankfully, Marina just shook her head, "Those reasons are my own and Captain Varrots own..."

Alicia nodded, "Sorry, didn't mean to be nosy, just curious."

The shy girl tugged at Alicia's sleeve and got her attention, "Um… Alicia… we uh… don't have enough to feed everyone." she whispered, but Claudia could still hear.

"Don't worry, we'll figure something out." Alicia whispered back.

"I-I'm so sorry, I never thought to bring more… it's always just been the three of us, I should have brought more just in case something like this ever happened…"

"Calm down Susie, it's not your fault. We'll just have to share this time!" Alicia responded with a smile.

Claudia was nervous rubbing her hands together, "Oh, don't worry about me, I'll be fine…" Again her stomach growled loudly and revealed her true feelings of hunger.

Alicia just grinned and quickly filled up another pan, giving some of her food to Claudia as well. She then held it out to Claudia, smiling the entire time. Claudia felt a little bad from taking some of a superior officer's food, but smiled, took a seat next to Alicia and Susie and began to devour the meal. She ate at a fast pace, until she bit into one of Alicia's fresh baked bread buns. The bread was still warm, fluffy and tasted delicious, even without butter or any other kinds of fixings.

"Oh… delicious!" Claudia said in pure bliss as she savoured the bread.

Alicia and Susie chuckled, "Thanks, I had hoped that you would like it."

Claudia looked over at Alicia, her eyes sparkling and said "I do! It's SO good!"

Alicia laughed and patted Claudia on the head, "Again, thank you for saying so. I baked it myself this morning."

"Eh?" Claudia squeaked, "How long have you been up for?"

"Oh… maybe a little bit before 5 A.M." Alicia said with a hand against her chin, "Maybe even earlier, I never checked the clock when I got up."

"I don't remember a time when I was ever up this early before…" Claudia said.

Susie nodded, "Our bodies are used to it."

Alicia nodded, "Yep, we're both members of the town watch, back in Bruhl. It's where we used to live and work… before the Empire took it away." Alicia said, looking down in a sad manner.

Susie decided to change the subject slightly, to get off the sad topic of Bruhl. "Alicia is a baker, so she is used to getting up very early to begin making bread at her store back in… oops!"

Alicia waved her hands, "Don't worry about it Susie. Someday, we will go back there, together." Alicia said with confidence, believing it full heartedly.

Claudia turned to Susie, "You don't seem the least bit…" Claudia yawned before she could finish. "Tired either…"

Susie shook her head, "No… I always, always take the earliest morning shift that I can in the town watch. Not much crime or trouble goes on in the very early hours of the day… I like it that way…"

"See, we're all earlier risers, it's why we gather at this time of day to eat breakfast together before we start the day." Alicia said, "We've seen Marina each morning, so we decided to invite her to join, seeing as how she's always up like we are at this time of morning. She doesn't join in our conversations, but that's alright, it's still nice to see her everyday."

"She's up this early all the time?" Claudia cried, "Oh no… looks like I'll be up at this time everyday from now on as well…"

Just then, "Oh, I'm sorry!" Alicia said with a hand against her mouth, "I never introduced you yet. This here is my best friend, Susie Evans. She is also a member of squad 7, my squad."

Claudia gave a nod of respect, "Nice to meet you, I'm Claudia Mann." she said with a hand extended out to Susie, but she hesitated as she just looked at Claudia's outstretched hand.

"S-so, you're the-" she was cut off by Alicia's hand held against her mouth.

However, Claudia knew what she was going to say. "Yes, I'm the girl with extremely bad luck… some call me 'Cursia' or so I have heard."

Alicia waved her hand, "Nonsense, that's just silly!" she said. "Never mind those people, there are those who still like you for you, I'm sure of it."

Claudia nodded, "Yeah, I know…" she said, thinking of Nadine and Catherine O'Hara and even Captain Varrot. Those three seemed to like her enough.

Their talk was interrupted by a metal pan, clanging loudly against Alicia and Susie's. It was Marina's and now she had her sniper rifle slung over her shoulder once again. She then looked down at Claudia and waved her head slightly forward, "Time to go…" she said softly.

Claudia nodded her head and got up, handing her pan to Alicia and saying "Thank you so much for the meal!

"Sure thing, have a good day." Alicia said. She then turned to Marina, "Same time tomorrow?"

Marina was already walking away, but she raised a hand and waved, a sign of yes or sure thing.

Alicia and Susie looked at eachother and giggled, Alicia then turned to Claudia, "Sorry, that's all that I can ever get out of her."

Claudia nodded in agreement, she never got much out of Marina or heard her speak much about anything, at all. She gave them one last smile and nod and then Claudia jogged to catch up to Marina.

* * *

Not long after, they exited the base and were headed out into the wilderness. After a 10 or 15 minute walk they came to a large forest clearing, there was a stream nearby, with a 15 foot high waterfall filling a large, round pond or lake. Marina was now taking off her blue, red and white jacket and setting it on a nearby branch and leaning her sniper rifle up against a tree stump. It looked like it had been carved out, by the way it so perfectly held her sniper rifle and the branch cut so well to hold her jacket. Claudia guessed that she must have been coming to this spot every morning; she seemed to know the area well and set it up just right.

Now Marina began to train, with Claudia sitting off to the side and watching. Marina started off with some stretches, then quickly moved on to some push-ups. Impressively, she did 30 at a quick pace, then immediately switched to sit-ups. Claudia decided to join in, sitting around was pretty boring after all. Though she kept a pretty fair distance from Marina, doing her own push ups and sit ups off to the side. She could barely do 10 of either, while Marina switched to another exercise. It took Claudia looking around after finishing off her own sit-ups to find her.

This time Marina was doing pull-ups on a branch nearby, it was now that her muscles were pumping with blood and had a light coat of sweat on her, that Claudia was able to see the muscular tone of her arms and shoulders. This must have been from constant training, everyday. Sort of unusual, for a sniper to be so concerned with such intense exercise each morning. They didn't seem to need to worry about moving around too much, or needing to be very strong to do their jobs as snipers.

Again, just wanting something to do to break the boredom, Claudia looked around and found a branch which she could reach. She jumped up, grabbed a hold of the branch and tried to pull herself up. She managed one, two, then three, but her arms were already shaking. Not only that, she saw that Marina could pump out 2 or 3 in the time that it took Claudia to do just one.

After 25 reps, Marina dropped down from the tree and rested her hands on her hips as she breathed; only slightly winded by all that. Claudia was just about to let go, but the branch broke before she could. She then landed on her butt first, then her back and just remained there, slightly winded by the impact. There were little bits of twigs and leaves that were falling on top of her from the shaking tree and she coughed as she spit some leaves out of her mouth.

What surprised her was the silence, so she looked over and saw Marina, next to the pond. She had her back turned to Claudia and was slashing some water against her face and running her wet hands through her black hair. This surprised her, because she was sure that if it were anyone else, and she meant anyone else, they surely would have laughed at Claudia, quite loudly after that scene. However, Marina didn't utter the slightest chuckle, giggle or anything. She didn't even seem to notice or care about what had just happened. Claudia wondered how anyone could be like that. More so, and this worried her, what could have happened to make someone like that...

* * *

A short while later, after some more intense exercises. Marina walked and sat 'Indian' style on a rock, next to the waterfall and closed her eyes, resting her hands on top of her knees and just sat there. She wasn't moving or doing anything else, just sitting there; quiet as a mouse and still as a statue.

Claudia looked around for a moment, then asked "Hey Marina… what are you doing?"

Marina didn't answer, so she asked again, this time a little louder, to ensure that she could be heard over the waterfall. "Marina, what are you doing?"

Now Marina responded, "Listening…"

"To what?"

"Do you hear it?" Marina asked, opening her right eye and looking down at Claudia.

"Hear what?" Claudia said, turning her head side to side. "I don't hear anything!"

Marina growled slightly, "That's because you're too loud… keep quiet!" She then closed her eye once again and went back into the same position, quiet as a mouse, still as a statue.

Claudia just rolled her eyes and walked over to a nearby rock and sat on it. She looked down at her reflection in the water and quietly pondered many things. Not long after, she closed her eyes, out of boredom and nearly fell asleep. That was when she heard it, the many sounds of nature.

There were birds chirping, the sound of the water fall, wind blowing through the trees and even some animals that she never would have heard if she didn't pay close enough attention to the sounds of nature. She heard squirrels chattering, woodpeckers pecking loudly against distant trees and a distant shrill yelping or barking sound.

"He's back…" Marina suddenly said, causing Claudia to open her eyes again. She looked towards Marina and already saw her up and running back to her jacket and rifle. Now she was digging around in her jacket pockets, seemingly looking for something. She seemed to find whatever it was that she was looking for, but had it cupped in her hands and Claudia couldn't see what it was.

Marina then looked over at Claudia, "Move back, it won't come unless I'm alone!" she ordered.

Claudia wasn't sure what was going on, but she nodded her head and ran back to her jacket, put it on and moved quite a ways away from Marina. However, she peeked out from behind the tree that she was hiding behind and saw Marina looking around. She then began to whistle and clap her hands, an odd behaviour, from her of all people.

Next Claudia saw her kneel down and hold out something; she squinted to see what it was and now saw that it was some strips of bacon that she had saved from their meal with Alicia and Susie. Claudia continued watching, then gasped in surprise. She saw something emerge from some nearby bushes and stare at Marina. It was a small red fox with a black tipped tail. It then lowered its head and began to walk with a bit of a limp around Marina, not really approaching her just yet, more like checking her out, seeing if she was a threat. Still, Marina held out the bacon and whistled softly. The fox got down on its belly and slowly inched its way towards Marina, but backed away each time Marina tried to move closer. She seemed to be trying to pet it, but it backed away each time her hand got near it.

The fox made another shy attempt to move towards Marina, Claudia could see its little snout sniffing eagerly at the bacon, it must have been very hungry. Finally it opened its mouth, its little eyes looking up at Marina, who wasn't making an attempt to pet it anymore. It then lunged forward, snatched the bacon away and ran back into the bushes and disappeared.

Marina lowered her head, as if slightly disappointed, then got up and walked back to her hung up jacket and propped up sniper rifle. Claudia decided to return just as Marina was putting her jacket back on and fastening it back up. She quickly slung her rifle over her shoulder and looked back at the spot where the fox had disappeared into.

"Was that a fox just now?" Claudia asked.

Marina sighed, "Did it look like a fox…?"

"Kind of, I didn't really see it very well."

"Yes, it was a fox."

Claudia smiled, "Friend of yours?"

But Marina didn't smile back, instead she started walking back towards the base, "A fox is an animal, animals and humans are not friends…"

"You seemed… different when it was around," Claudia said, "Sort of… happy."

Marina stopped in her tracks, keeping her back to Claudia. "No more talk until we get back to base, is that understood?" Marina responded in a cold tone.

Claudia gulped, "Y-yes, Ma'am" and she followed Marina back to base, though she was kind of happy that she had gotten a glimpse of another side of the cold, emotionless Marina Wulfstan. One that showed that she was a very hard worker and trainer, maybe even a side when she is happy. Though that was only a guess, up until now she was always seemingly cold and emotionless. Still, Claudia liked to think that she finally saw some life and light in Marina's eyes, when she was around that fox.

* * *

**_Hello Readers, this was supposed to be one, long chapter, but decided to cut it into 2 pieces. This piece now, the next maybe tomorrow or on or before friday. I guessed no less than 10,000 words and I don't have the energy to write all of that out. Still, this seemed like a good place to stop :)._**


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19- Becoming more of a 'Mann'**

Claudia and Marina were now at the shooting range, and it was also past noon. Still, even though it was past noon, there was no one else training in the range, or training anywhere on the base. Who would want to train on a Sunday, when there was nothing scheduled that day and this was supposed to be their day off. The soldiers time to cut back, relax and not have to worry about training or fighting while they were stationed at the base.

Claudia just sat on the benches at the back of the shooting range, watching Marina shoot targets at various ranges. She looked around and found a pair of binoculars nearby, so she picked those up and decided to watch Marina shoot some more. She made a bulls-eye at 50 yards, no problem. Another one at 75 yards, still no problem, hit the black center ring dead on. Even the 100 yard mark and two more much further beyond that were all made with seemingly great ease.

Claudia smiled, knowing that she had someone with that great of aim watching out for her. She hoped she'd do the same on the battlefield, protecting her from up high, like a guardian angel of sorts.

"She's an excellent sharp-shooter, don't you think?" An accented voice asked from just behind Claudia.

This caused Claudia to jump in surprise, then look behind her and she spotted Catherine O'Hara, smiling and patting her on the shoulder. "C-Catherine O'Hara… you scared me!"

"Ha-ha, sorry Lass, didn't mean to." Catherine apologized.

Now Marina had finished shooting, pulled the bolt back and ejected the last spent cartridge. She then tilted the rifle forward and looked down the ejection port, to check to make sure all rounds were fired and that there wasn't another in the chamber. Once that was clear, she slide the bolt back into place, stood up and slung her rifle over her shoulder, then proceeded to walk down range and retrieve her targets.

Catherine slowly nodded her head, "She's almost on par with her father…" Catherine said eyes off to the side as if she was recalling an old memory. "Her father was one of the best snipers of the war, the next was her mother. Together… they were a force to be reckoned with, the deadly…'Wolf Pack' as they became to be known."

"What?" Claudia asked.

Catherine shook her head, "Sorry Claudia darling, I must have drifted off to another time, another place," Catherine said. "I just know that Marina will one day surpass them both, she has that potential."

Claudia nodded and now Marina was back with a large stack of shooting targets in hand. She laid them down on the table in order and began to mark down her scores, any adjustments that needed to be made and compared them to older scores from previous pages.

Catherine then made her way over to the same table that Marina was sitting at, reached into her pocket and pulled out an envelope, addressed to Corporal Wulfstan. Marina looked up, slightly annoyed by the interruption to her work and then took the envelope.

"You're welcome…" Catherine said.

Marina tore open the envelope and read the piece of paper inside, "Already… they don't waste time."

"Hmmm?" Claudia asked, slightly curious as to what was on the piece of paper. Marina just looked up, folded the letter up and tossed it to Claudia, like she was throwing a Frisbee. Claudia caught it, then quickly unfolded it and looked at its contents.

"Oh no way… I'm re-assigned to Squad 1!" Claudia announced happily, she then read some more. "So are Elisa and Ellen… it'll be good to see them again."

"Congratulations Claudia, you sound excited to be returning to your old squad." Catherine said.

Marina nodded her head, "They want you where I can see you during battle, I presume…" she said with slight anger in her voice, "This will cause problems…"

"What do you mean?" Claudia asked.

"How am I supposed to protect others, when my mission is to show favouritism towards protecting you…?" Marina said in disgust, "Watching out for you on the base is easy… watching out for you during a battle will be… difficult. I do not agree with this…"

"…" Claudia couldn't think of anything to say, so she just lowered her head and remained quiet.

"Tell ya what, why don't the two of you come by the hangers later tonight. We of squad 7 have invited Squad 1 to join us for a night of recreational fun." Said Catherine, eager to change the subject. "There'll be card games, a Bar-B-Q and a chance for both squads to get to know each other."

Claudia smiled brightly, "Sounds like fun!"

Marina scoffed "Tsk… what's the use…"

Catherine frowned, "Now Marina, don't be such a spoil sport, Claudia seems eager."

Marina looked up from her marking work, "What's the point of getting to know people who may get killed in the next battle? Why set yourself up for sadness that is sure to come with the guaranteed losses of war?"

Claudia was surprised, "_That's the longest sentence I've ever heard her say_," she thought to herself.

"Come on, let Claudia have her fun. She needs it I think…" Catherine said, hoping to sway Marina's opinion.

After a few silent moments Marina nodded. "So be it… I don't think this is a good idea though…"

"Great, I'll see you both there!" Catherine said excitedly, "7:00 o'clock, just outside the tank hangers!"

Catherine then left the two and made her way back to her own barracks. Now the awkwardness started all over again. Marina went back to marking her targets in her journal and then began to take her rifle apart and set down a case that held many small tools. She then set to cleaning her sniper rifle… thoroughly and slowly.

Meanwhile, Claudia was sitting on the benches nearby, swinging her legs and watching Marina. Bored after just a few minutes, she decided to brave making small talk to help get rid of the boredom that she was feeling.

"So… Marina, where are you from?"

Marina didn't even acknowledge that she heard the question as she continued cleaning her rifle.

"Um… tell me a little bit about yourself."

"…" again nothing from Marina.

"You know, we're going to be working together from now on…"

"**_So long as you're still alive_**…" Marina said softly, so softly Claudia didn't really hear.

"What?"

"Nothing…" Marina replied, still cleaning her rifle.

"So maybe we should get to know each other." Claudia said nervously.

Marina looked up from her work, "Personal conversation is not a requisite of my agreement with Captain Varrot…" Marina then went back to work.

Claudia leaned back in her chair and groaned, "Aww… but I'm bored!"

"Read a book…" Marina replied without looking up.

"So, no conversation?" Claudia asked, leaning forward in her chair with her hands on top of the seat.

"No conversation…"

Claudia nodded, "Question, Corporal Wulfstan!" Claudia said, clear and proper.

Now Marina looked up, surprised by Claudia's sudden and proper show of respect to her as a corporal, "Yes, what is it?"

"Why are you letting me go to this event tonight, you could have ordered me not to, seeing as how you do not want to go to it." Claudia asked.

Marina lowered her head and sighed, "…Compromise…"

"Eh?" Claudia asked, not quiet sure what she meant.

Marina looked toward Claudia, "Compromise," she repeated, "We each have to change our schedules and get used to not doing things the way that we are used to doing. I get up early and train each morning, even Sundays. You followed without any major complaints and followed my routine. Thus, I will allow you to do something that you wish to do, by going to this event tonight. Even if it is something that I do not wish to do… compromise."

Claudia nodded her head, "I understand… and thank you!"

Marina just shook her head and went back to cleaning her sniper rifle.

* * *

Later that evening, Claudia and Marina were approaching an already roaring party that was going on just outside of the tank hangers. They could hear laughter, clapping and music, as well as a woman singing from the party just up ahead. There were fire pits and giant Bar-B-Q's set up all around the area, the smell of roasted food and strong drink was in the air.

Claudia was already bouncing up and down in excitement and was eager to see her old friends again. Which were Nadine, Vyse, Aika and Ellen and Elisa. She rubbed her hands together as she got closer, because Jane and Wendy also came into view. They were in the middle of a card game with Catherine O'Hara and a blonde haired girl with glasses. They however, didn't seem to notice Claudia approaching, so she held a hand up to the side of her face and walked past their card table and moved towards the center of the mass party.

Just then, "Hey! Marina! Good to see you again!" An excited boy with spiky black hair cried out from the crowd of people. Unfortunately, that boy was Ted Ustinov.

Marina's one visible violet eye looked off to the side in disgust, "Oh god… let me know when you're ready to leave…" Marina said, turning and walking off to the side of the party area, towards a pile of crates.

"Oh… ok…" Claudia said. She then watched as Marina quickly retreated from the area, trying to ditch the spiky haired boy named Ted.

Claudia however, was glad to be back amongst so many familiar faces. She set out to find her best friend, Nadine. It didn't take much looking and moving through the crowds before she found her. She was talking with three other Darcsen people, in their own group it seemed, away from the other party-goers.

Claudia quickly made her way over to them and waved once they looked towards her. Nadine smiled joyously and ran towards Claudia and they embraced each other in a hug.

"Claudia! It's been so long!" Nadine said.

"I know, nearly 3 weeks since we last saw each other."

Nadine nodded, grabbed Claudia by the hand and led her back towards the other Darcsen's gathered together in a small group. She then began introductions.

"Claudia, I'm sure you remember Wavy and Lynn!" she said with an open palm, gesturing to the said two individuals.

Claudia nodded, "Yes, I remember."

They didn't say anything in response; in fact they looked a little bit unsure of something. This caused Claudia to look down at the ground, thinking they must have known her for her bad luck, or worse yet, for what she did to Nadine so long ago in the group beating in the bathroom.

Nadine must have read her mind, "Don't worry guys, we've resolved our terrible and unfortunate… misunderstandings from before. We're friends now, aren't we Claudia?"

Claudia raised her head back up and smiled, "Yes, yes we have!"

"Good, that's nice to hear." said Wavy

"I hope you have, and that it never happens again." Lynn said with a suspicious look.

Claudia gulped, "It won't, I promise!"

Nadine then gestured to a small darcsen girl, wearing a shawl, "This is my good friend, Isara," Nadine said. "You may not guess it by just looking at her, but she puts both of us to shame as engineers. She's also a tank driver of… that tank over there." Nadine pointed to the giant tank that belonged to Squad 7.

Isara bowed, "Nice to meet you, Claudia Mann."

Claudia was just about to shake her hand, but was interrupted just as her hand was about to grasp Isara's.

"Claudia, is that you?" a female girl a heavy accent asked.

Claudia turned and spotted Elisa approaching, a shy as always Ellen following just behind her, hands held behind her back, eyes aimed at the ground as she walked. They were wearing the Gallian militia uniforms once again, but now had a Squad 1 patch in place of the old Squad 3 patches they once had on their uniforms.

"Oh… Elisa… Ellen…" Claudia said, she looked back and all of the Darcsen members were looking away in different directions. Isara had her hands held together nervously and looking away. Wavy had his right arm up and was scratching the back of his head. Lynn had already turned and was walking away. It wasn't long before Wavy left, just as the two Imperial girls reached the group.

Isara scratched the side of her head with her gloved hand, "Sorry, but I have to go… and find my brother." and with that, she left the group in a hurry.

Now all that was left was Claudia, Nadine, Elisa and Ellen. There was a long, awkward silence as no one spoke any words and just stood around.

"So… Nadine, this is Ellen and Elisa." Claudia said, gesturing to each girl. "We served together in squad 3 and looks like we'll be serving together in Squad 1."

Nadine looked at each of the girls and nodded, but didn't say hello or anything else. Instead, she started trembling, so much that Claudia noticed out of the corner of her eye.

"Something wrong?" Elisa asked in her heavy Eastern accent, "Are you cold or something?"

Nadine wrapped her arms around herself and quickly shook her head, her dark blue hair swaying with her head movements. "N-no, I'm not… sorry, I-I have to g-go now!"

Nadine then took off and left the group, making her way past other soldiers in quite a hurry.

Elisa and Ellen lowered their heads, Claudia took notice right away.

Elisa looked over at Claudia, "Happens all the time… people don't trust us." Elisa said with some slight anger in her voice. "Even after all we've done for them."

"Hmmm?" Claudia squeaked out.

"We were the one's who warned Squad's 1 and 7 about that giant tank, the Batomys, that they fought against in the Barious desert." said Elisa, "Passed right by us, the volley of fire from their cannons as they fired at us killed nearly half of our squad. But we managed to radio back its location, which direction it was heading and how far away from the other squad's it was. Even now, they still don't trust us, some are even still afraid of us."

Ellen just nodded her head in agreement.

"I see… that's too bad, I trust you though. I knew that there must have been a good reason as to why you survived while so much of our old squad had died." said Claudia.

Elisa however sighed and looked around; there were many angry and suspicious glares from the other members of Squad's 1 and 7, who were looking at them.

Elisa turned to Ellen, "Come on, let's go back to the barracks, it's clear that we're not welcome here…" she said, she then turned to Claudia. "Have a good night; we'll see you around the squad, alright?"

Claudia nodded and waved as they walked away, the glares and stares following them all the way through the crowd and as they left together.

Claudia felt bad for them, they had served Gallia loyally since they had arrived and joined the militia, but no one was even letting up the slightest in their hate and suspicion of the two Imperial girls.

She then looked around and wanted to find Nadine, to talk to her about this and let her know that they could be trusted. She looked and looked and finally found her near the Bar-B-Q's, gathering a plate of food. She made her way over to her and placed her hand on Nadine's shoulder.

"Hey… can I talk to you for a moment?" Claudia asked, slightly pleading with her eyes.

Nadine lowered her head, "It's about those girls right?"

"…yeah…"

Nadine set her plate down and took Claudia by the hand and together they left the party, around to the side of the nearby hanger. Nadine sighed sadly and looked back up at Claudia.

"I know what you're going to say… but I can't do it…" Nadine said.

"Why not, why not give them a chance?" Claudia asked.

Nadine wrapped her arms around herself and visibly began to tremble once again, as is she was shivering from some kind of cold. Her eyes then looked off to the side in what looked like sadness and pain.

"You remember that story I told you, about what happened to my uncle?"

Claudia nodded, "Yeah… I remember…"

"They're the same… those eyes… their jet-black hair… even their accents sound the same to me as those Imperials who slaughtered my uncle. I hid, but I could still see through the boards in the secret room I was hiding in. I'll never forget it… when those men took off their helmets. Their jet-black hair, green eyes and heavily accented voices as they laughed and kicked my uncles corpse… to be so close to an Imperial now just… brings back all those memories…" Nadine said, "So I can't do it Claudia, I just can't! I can't be friends with Imperials… I'm so sorry!"

As Claudia watched Nadine run back to the squad barracks in tears, she lowered her head. "What about half-Imperials… I just happen to be one…" she said downheartedly to herself. "What should I do… should I tell her what I am, will that change anything between us… I don't know…"

Claudia then started walking back to the party, but along the way, she happened to pass by a large, glass window. The light from the moon above helped show a strong reflection in the pane of glass. A reflection of herself and it was now that Claudia took a good, long look at herself. She reached up with her right hand and took a handful of her black coloured hair and looked at it. It was the same as Elisa and Ellen's, the same as Imperials.

Varrot's words were true, she was half-Imperial. Her eyes didn't match either of the girls, but she remembered that Catherine said that she had her father's eyes. Claudia just sighed and returned to the party, now feeling less happy about being there. Maybe Marina was right, maybe it wasn't a good idea to have come here. Still, there were some people that Claudia wanted to see once again. With that thought in mind, she looked around for Catherine O'Hara.

She found her soon after, by the hanger doors. She was still playing cards with Wendy, Jane and the other blonde haired girl with glasses.

Claudia smiled slightly at the sight of Catherine O'Hara's winnings, they were much higher stacked than anyone else's. This seemed to anger Wendy and Jane, their winnings weren't that much. Finally Wendy laid down her set of cards, revealing a two pair, not very strong hand.

Catherine just nodded with a smile and looked at Jane, Her hands were shaking, and her teeth bore, as she growled.

"Damn! I got nothing…" she hissed in anger, throwing her cards to the table.

"Well Juno Darling, you got anything that could win?" Catherine asked.

"Nothing… just a straight." Juno beamed with a smile, laying her cards down on the table. Now it was Wendy's turn to slam the wooden table with her fist.

Catherine smiled, "You're getting better, but you'll have to do better than that to beat this old woman!" Catherine chuckled as she showed a flush, three kings and two queens no less.

Jane slammed the table once again, "How the hell do you manage to win all the time!"

Catherine shrugged, "Comes with being a sniper," she said. "Patience, timing and a very good sense of things helps, even with a game of cards."

Catherine then collected her winnings and stepped away from the table, Claudia smiled and began to make her way over to her.

However, as luck would have it, "Claudia~! So good to see you again!" Jane leered, the way she said it showed slight sarcasm.

Claudia gulped and looked over her shoulder, "Y-yeah… n-nice to see you too… Wendy… Jane…" Claudia uttered with fear in her voice. She then saw Catherine looking back as well and decided to meet up with her quickly.

Just then, "Hey! Come back here roomy~!" Wendy beckoned with a wave. Claudia once again froze then slowly turned, compelled to do what they said out of fear. So she slowly walked towards the table, looking down at the ground the whole time.

"Hey pal, what's the matter, not going to join your old buddies for a game of cards?"

Claudia looked up in surprise, "What?"

"Yeah, come join us for a few hands… for old time's sake." Jane said slyly with a grin.

Claudia scratched the back of her head, unsure as to what was going on; these two said they wanted nothing to do with her earlier. She then confessed "I-I do not know how to play…"

"Would you like me to show you how to play, Claudia Darling?" Catherine's accented voice asked. "Tis quite easy, I assure you."

"A-alright, guess it couldn't hurt…" Claudia said. She then followed Catherine to a table nearby and she began to explain the rules of the game.

Meanwhile Jane placed her hand on Wendy's shoulder and both of them grinned evilly.

"We alright know how bad Claudia's luck is, and how much money that girl carries around." Jane whispered.

Wendy responded with a snicker and said "Yes… like taking candy from a baby. Tee-hee."

After 15 minutes Claudia had a basic grasp of the game and returned to the table, she took a seat across from Wendy and Jane as Jane began to shuffle the deck. All of them had an equal stack of ducat coins, though Claudia was extremely nervous, it was her first time playing with a group. The only card game that she knew of was solitary.

She also didn't like the sly, evil looks and smiles from Wendy and Jane. She looked to her side and saw that Marina had taken up a new sitting position, alone as always, on top of a nearby wooden table, watching Claudia very closely.

The cards were dealt between the three; Claudia just picked up her set of cards and scratched her head, slightly clueless at first. This caused snickers and laughter from Jane and Wendy, sly looks still on their faces. Finally Claudia rearranged her cards, and then looked back at Catherine O'Hara, she responded with a smile and a nod.

Everyone placed their bets, went through the rounds, taking new cards, discarding old ones and placing even more bets. Wendy and Jane seemed eager and greedy as they pressured Claudia to make large bets as well.

Finally, it was time to reveal the cards and see who won and who lost. Wendy snickered and placed her cards down, "Three of a kind roomy, beat that!"

Jane grinned and put her cards on the table, "Flush!"

Claudia however was visibly sweating and trembling as she continued to look at her cards. Unsure if she had done better or worse than the other girls, so she looked back at Catherine O'Hara once again and she nodded and waved her hand forward with an open palm, encouraging her to show them what she had.

Claudia nodded and looked back at the girls, "I… I'm not sure if this is good or not… is it?" Claudia said and she put her cards down on the table with a trembling hand. The looks she got from Wendy and Jane showed that they were extremely surprised.

"Four of a kind… no way…" Jane said.

Wendy responded with an angry pound of her fist against the table and cursed loudly. This let Claudia know that she had won, she looked back at Catherine just to be sure, she was smiling and clapping her hands.

"Well done Lass, I knew that you could do it!" she complimented.

Unfortunately, both Wendy and Jane put nearly 'All In' for their money when they bet against Claudia. Now she had a heck of a lot more ducats to add to her money bag back in her room.

"S-so I win?" Claudia asked, nervously standing up and rubbing her hands together. Wendy and Jane just nodded, but looked extremely angry at losing to her.

"O-ok, guess I'll… take this then…" Claudia then began to make a move for Wendy and Jane's losing's and claim them for her own. Suddenly, as her hands got near the girls money, Jane slammed a knife, tip first into the wooden table, stabbing an ace of hearts, dead center in the middle of the heart.

"I say you cheated!" Jane hissed in anger, baring her teeth, "We all know how terrible your luck is! There's no way you could have gotten that good of a hand with your kind of luck!"

"Hey, there's no need for that!" Catherine cried.

Claudia stood up and looked like she was about to back away, but she looked over at Marina who know stood up from the table and looked on. She didn't make any attempt to intervene just yet, more like she was watching; waiting until the very moment that she was needed. Maybe as if she was expecting Claudia to do something about it herself and not wait for her to help.

Claudia looked down at Jane's knife that was still lodged inside the card table, now Wendy had her hand on her knife handle as well, but didn't draw it. Claudia took a deep nervous breath, and then balled up her shaking fists. "S-sh-sh…"

Jane tilted her head slightly to the side, "What did you say?"

"Come on girl, speak up!" Wendy said with a snicker, "If you've got something to say. Then say it!"

Claudia finally looked up with an angry look in her eyes now, "I said Shut Up! You Sadistic, Snake-eyed Bitch and Raccoon-eyed Pyromaniac!" Claudia roared in a sudden, unnatural, angry voice at Jane and Wendy, "I didn't cheat, you just can't stand the fact that you lost to me fair and square, and that I'm better than you at this!"

Jane stood up quickly, knocking her chair back in the process. She quickly yanked the knife blade out of the table and pointed it threateningly at Claudia, Wendy also drew her knife with a quick '_shink_' sound. Catherine was getting extremely nervous and started reaching back for her sidearm pistol, to protect Claudia. Though, Claudia stood up tall and proud, not afraid anymore, almost like she was challenging two girls with knives while she had nothing.

However, everyone stopped once they heard fast approaching footsteps, followed by a long, loud '_**SSHHIINNKK**_' sound. Marina then stepped directly next to Claudia and displayed a knife that put Jane and Wendy's standard issue bayonet knives to shame. The blades length alone was 5 or 6 inches long, curved and had an edge that shone in the moonlight, obviously razor sharp. There were grooves that ran along the top of the blade, opposite of the knife edge. The black handle added another 2 inches to the overall length at least and the butt of the knife had a point on it.

Marina scoffed, "Tsk, how could you threaten an unarmed girl with your knives, knowing that she could not fight back?" Marina asked.

Now, even Jane looked shaken up as she looked down at Marina's large hunting knife, "Back off Wulfstan, this is not your concern."

Marina glared, "That's Corporal Wulfstan to you," Marian corrected, "that's where you're wrong, Claudia is my responsibility. Mess with her, you mess with me, got it?"

Jane growled, and then put her blade back in its sheath, "Why? Why would you of all people watch out for her?"

Wendy sheathed her knife as well, "What makes her so special that you have to do that?"

Claudia's heart froze, would Marina tell the two people, who hated Imperials most, about her true origins.

Again, Marina didn't divulge that information, "You don't need to know, I wouldn't tell the likes of you anyhow."

Claudia looked around; now a lot of other squad 1 and 7 members were looking on at the scene that was going on with the knife armed girls. And it seemed that Marina also notice, despite not looking around.

"Come on, take your winnings and let's get out of here." Marina urged.

Claudia immediately acknowledged her as she nodded, then gathered up the large pile of winnings that she had won and dumped them into her pockets. Claudia left the table first, followed by Catherine O'Hara and Marina slowly backed away, always facing Wendy and Jane until she was a safe distance away. Once she was sure of that, she then sheathed her large hunting knife and ran to catch up with Claudia and Catherine, who were already booking it away from the party as fast as they could.

* * *

After a lot of running, they rounded the corner of another hanger and hid behind in, Marina following right after. She moved to the concrete wall next to the hanger and placed one hand against it, breathing hard and heavy. Catherine also placed her hands on her knees and was breathing hard. Claudia had her back against the hanger and wiped the back of her sleeve across her sweaty forehead.

Just then, "Claudia!" Catherine barked with her hands on her hips in a seemingly displeased manner.

Claudia shrank back a little, "What?" she croaked.

A smile then spread across Catherine's lips, "Way to go!" She complimented, "I'm so glad that you stood up for yourself back there. Way to be a 'Mann' for once, like your father was."

Claudia chuckled and rubbed the back of her neck while blushing, "T-thank you…" Claudia laughed. She then turned to Marina, who still had her back to the girls while she was breathing hard and heavy. "And Marina… thank you so much. You saved me back there once aga-"

Marina's hand to her throat cut her off before she could finish, she then slammed Claudia hard against the side of the metal hanger, creating a loud, echoing banging sound.

"Marina!" Catherine uttered.

"Now you listen to me you little brat!" Marina snarled, "What the hell do you think would have happened if I wasn't there to watch out for you? Did you ever stop to think about that?

"Marina I-"

"Did you ever stop to think about that you idiot!" Marina barked, she then loosened her grip and removed her hand from Claudia's neck, moved down and took a handful of the front of her jacket and clamped down tight. "You could have been beaten up… stabbed… maybe even killed by those two. How could you pick a fight with those two people of all, you know how ruthless and merciless they are…" Marina went on, pushing Claudia's back against the shed with every few words.

Marina shook her head and released her grip from Claudia, "You wouldn't even last 2 minutes in a fight…"

Catherine looked at Claudia and she nodded, "You're right… I don't even know how to fight… I'm an engineer." Claudia confessed.

Catherine's eyes looked towards Marina, "Surely you could teach her, I heard about a certain violet eyed girl who single-handedly beat up 4 other soldiers."

Marina shook her head, "She's too weak… and the moves that I know can kill, my father told me that," Marina said, "He taught me well… he taught me without holding back."

"I'm not asking you to teach her everything you know," Catherine pleaded, "Just teach her some things so that she can defend herself…"

Marina sighed long, "Very well… starting tomorrow, I will train you to fight," Marina said, finally turning to Claudia, "You had better be ready to learn and learn fast!"

Claudia nodded, "I will!"

Catherine clasped her hands together and nodded in delight. Hey eyes then drifted down to Marina's knife handle. The entire knife was so long and large that it had to be fixed to the back of Marina's belt, in a sideway's position, with the knife handle pointing to the right, to allow Marina to reach back with her right hand and draw it quickly, should she need it.

Marina looked over her shoulder and saw Catherine's eyes pointing down. She then followed Catherine's gaze, all the way down to her hunting knife, attached to the back of her belt inside it's sheath. She silently looked up and saw Catherine's eyes first look up at her, then back down to her knife, then up again.

Marina knew what she wanted and quickly drew her large hunting knife in a flash, held the blade close to her own face and turned it side to side. She then flipped it 180 degrees in her hand and held the knife out to Catherine, handle first.

Catherine reached out and took the knife and felt its weight, turned it over to examine it more closely. She then balanced the knife blade with her other hand and opened the palm that was grasping the knife and looked at the handle. Finally, it all came back to her in a flash.

"Marina! Is this…?" Catherine asked, drifting off at the end.

Marina nodded and held out her hand and the knife was passed back to her, "Yes… it's my father's…. it's a beauty that's for sure." Marina said with pride.

Catherine then walked forward and wrapped Claudia up in a hug, "Thank you Claudia and Marina, you've just given this old lady a déjà vu to a scene I once saw nearly 20 years ago…"

* * *

_Catherine was sitting near a small fire, alone. A kettle of tea was cooking on the fire, bits of steam escaping from the spout as it neared boiling point. She looked over at a large group of militia soldiers; all were laughing and kicking back after winning the town of Lavrone, back from the Imperials. They all seemed to get along so well, they all seemed so friendly. She was almost tempted to join them… but certain past experiences prevented her from doing so._

* * *

_She thought back to a few days back, when she first joined the militia and approached a group of female soldiers. "Hello, I'm Catherine O'Hara. It's a pleasure to meet you all." Catherine said nice and proper with her accented voice._

_The girls looked at each other then burst out laughing, so very hard. One girl even fell to her knees and continued laughing; the other slapped the other girl on the back as they went on._

_"Hewwo, I'm Cat-tween O'Hawa… tis nice to meet chu aww" one girl mocked, seriously over doing Catherine's accent. This caused the other girls to laugh even harder and Catherine to blush in embarrassment and slight shame. She couldn't get rid of her accent if she tried; it was encoded in her after all these years of speaking it._

_"Seriously, what… the hell… was that just now?" One girl gasped between lots of hard laughter._

_"You're not from around here are you?" the last girl inquired._

_"Yes, Lass… I am from here, I am Gallian…" Catherine said while looking away and scratching the side of her head, a nervous habit._

_"Lass! Did she just say 'Lass' bwahaha!" Everyone then fell on their backs and laughed some more, they couldn't get enough of Catherine's funny accent._

_Young Catherine's eyes began to tear up and she ran away, cursing her heavy accent and how it made her so different from everyone else. It wasn't her fault that her father was an ambassador from a far off country and married a noble Gallian woman. Not her fault that they home schooled her, hired teachers from her fathers' home country to teach her. Not her fault that all she ever heard at home was the accents of her father and her teachers so often that it became a part of her as well. She was born in Gallia, but raised as if she were from somewhere else._

_She joined the Gallian militia to rebel, be different from her father and be truly Gallian. Even if it meant running away from home and possibly never seeing it again. Proving that she was Gallian turned out to be far more difficult than she could have ever anticipated. Everyone assumed that, just because of her accent, she must have been, no, had to have been from somewhere else. Somewhere far off, where others spoke like she did and that she had to be an outsider, a foreigner._

_All these thoughts were rushing through Catherine's head as she ran, crying. Drops of tears were falling from her eyes as she wailed in pain from the hurt that the mean girls had caused her._

* * *

_Catherine then snapped back to the present time, to where she was sitting alone, by the fire to wait for her tea to finish. She smiled when she realized that tea was something that she wasn't ever going to give up, one trait that stuck with her, even now. She could forget about everything else and abandon all other aspects of her old life… but not tea, never tea._

_She hated to admit it, but she was in fact eaves dropping, listening to a conversation going on between two red headband wearing militia soldiers._

_"Hey bro… yoo-hoo!" one of the soldiers said, trying to get his attention. He looked like he was off somewhere else, thinking deeply upon something. "Hey! David!"_

_This David finally shook his head, "Sorry Robert… you were saying?"_

_"You've been sitting like that for quite some time, what are you thinking about?"_

_David shook his head, "Nothing much…" he responded with a long sigh at the end._

_Robert smirked, "Does it have to do with a certain someone with jet-black hair, green eyes and a heavy accent?"_

_"Accent?" Catherine thought, this piqued her interest and she listened more intently._

_David chuckled, "Yeah… it does," David said, "Shame how we couldn't speak with her more than we did. The way she spoke was something else, something I've never heard before."_

_"Forget it bro, she's long gone, it's not like you ever had a chance with her, an Imperial of all things." Robert teased._

_"Why not?" David asked, "I'd certainly give her a chance, she seemed nice enough when we met her."_

_Robert shook his head, "I bet you any money, that if she had a rifle, she'd of shot you dead in an instant and not thought anything of it. Just another dead Gallian to her."_

_"Shut up! You don't know that," David retorted. "You didn't see what I saw, the fear in her eyes, and the look of defeat that she bore. She wouldn't have done anything at all; I'd stake my life on it."_

_"Oh… so now my very own bro is in love with an Imp, how cute," Robert said in disgust, "What would mother think, god rest her soul, of her own son, all lovey-dovey over an Imp bitch?"_

_David got up from his log stump and shoved his brother back, knocking him over and spilling the pan of food that he hadn't touched all over him and the ground._

_David stood over Robert, finger pointed at him, "She's not an Imp bitch, she's a human being man… screw you!" and David stormed off in anger, away from Robert, who was curing over the loss of his food._

_David wandered aimlessly through the war torn down, hands in his pockets as he fumed over his brothers cruel words about that poor Imperial girl that he himself had rescued just this afternoon. His thoughts were suddenly cut short, by a bunch of evil sounding laughter. He knew something was up, so he ran towards the laughter and came upon a terrible sight. The same 4 regular soldiers were sexually harassing the same Imperial girl that he had rescued, they had lied, they didn't take her to the prisoner camp, and they were trying to rape her._

_David then saw one of the soldiers, the large corporal lancer trying to hold the struggling Imperial girl for another soldier, the sergeant, who was about to tear her shirt off. Her military training seemed to kick in as she raised a foot high and kicked the regular soldier right in the face, knocking him back and onto the ground._

_"Ha-ha, you got drop kicked by an Imp!" the one holding the girl laughed, his laughter was cut short by the girl biting down as hard as she could into his hand that was against her mouth, muffling any screams or any other attempts she could make to yell or call for help. He screamed in pain, let go of the girl momentarily, then back handed her with his fist, right across the mouth._

_"Oh… I'm gonna get you now you Imp bitch!" the regular soldier, the sergeant of the group that she had kicked, growled from the ground. She was trying to crawl away, holding her shirt together with one of her hands as she tried to get away. The angry sergeant then crawled on his stomach and grabbed her by one of her ankles and dragged her back to him. He then mounted her and tore her shirt open, grinning evilly._

_"I'm gonna enjoy this!" He said while licking his lips in anticipation._

_Suddenly, he was tackled right off of her by an unknown soldier. Martha, the Imperial girl then sat up and looked toward the downed two. She immediately recognized who it was, her saviour from before, the red headband clad militia soldier, David Mann._

_David then mounted the regular soldier and started to punch him over and over again in anger and rage._

_"Hey, get off of him, Militia scum!" the large corporal, who was the lancer growled._

_He easily grabbed David off of his sergeant and held his arms back; the two privates of the group then rushed at David and began to punch him across the face and in the stomach, hard. David kicked both legs off the ground and kicked one of the privates in the chest, knocking him back, but at the same time, sending the lancer that was holding him, backwards, straight into a brick wall. The wall was battle damaged and gave part ways as it collapsed inwards._

_He then turned his attention back to the two privates, but instead was hit hard in the stomach by a board that the sergeant had picked up and hit him with. The blow stunned him as he fell forward and clutched his stomach in pain; the sergeant brought the board back for another swing._

_Just then, "Watch it Sergeant!" one of the privates called out._

_Robert than came rushing in and tackled the sergeant, football style and they rolled on the ground together. It looked like the privates were about to jump in, but an angry, female sounding scream came from above. They looked back, only in time to see a slender, petite female come crashing down on top of them, knocking them both to the ground._

_Meanwhile, David's attention turned back to Martha, the Imperial girl. She was still on the ground, watching the fight going on between the regulars and militia soldiers. David, bloodied and bruised and slightly dizzy, gave his head a shake and rushed to her side. He picked her up off the ground and moved her behind himself, protecting her with his body. He then saw that large lance rushing at him, roaring and charging like a bull._

_David moved Martha to the right with his arm, dropped his shoulder and rolled along the ground, tripping the large lancer, who fell forward and slammed his forehead into the ground. He seemed extremely stunned by the blow as he held his hand against his bleeding head, groaned and cursed in pain._

_David was about to attack him some more, but looked over at the others fighting. He saw the other unknown militia girl that joined the fight being kicked by the two gutless privates as she curled herself into a ball._

_"If you think we won't hit you because you're a girl, then you're wrong!" said one of the privates as he kicked the poor girl in the stomach._

_Just then, from behind them, David rushed at the two soldiers who had their backs turned to him and slammed both of their heads into the nearby wooden wall, it was weak and brittle. It was so brittle that both of their heads smashed right through the wall. David then helped the other girl to her feet and pushed her behind himself, protecting her as well._

_At the same time, Robert punched the sergeant one last time, then retreated back and joined David and stood beside him. Everyone had cuts, bruises and was sweating from all the fighting._

_The Sergeant climbed back to his feet and the large corporal lancer joined him, the two privates pulled their heads out of the wall and joined him as well. All reached back and drew their standard issue bayonet blades out from their sheaths and pointed them at David and the others._

_David patted his belt, but noticed that he didn't have any of his gear. He looked at his brother and Robert groaned, "Damn it! We left our gear back at the fire… shit!"_

_David looked back at the other militia girl who had joined them in the fighting, "Sorry Darling, I don't carry a knife." and obviously Martha, the Imperial girl didn't have one, since she was a P.O.W._

_Still David held his arms out to his sides, protecting both Martha and the other girl. Bravely standing his ground and glaring at the regular soldiers, teeth bared, breathing heavily._

_"You're finished, we've got knives and you have nothing!" the sergeant boasted. He then held one of his hands out, "Just give us back the Imp girl and walk away."_

_Martha grabbed David by the back of the jacket and hid behind him, she popped her head over his shouted and screeched "**Rühr mich nicht an! Du Schweinehund**!" in her heavy Imperial accent before ducking her head back behind David and holding onto him tightly._

_David's bloody teeth still bared, he nodded his head, "See, she doesn't want to go with you!" David growled. "So leave her alone!"_

_The sergeant shook his head in disbelief, "Last chance man, give her to us!"_

_David shook his head angrily, "And let her be raped by 4 regular assholes! No, Never!"_

_The corporal scoffed, "What the hell is wrong with you, why are you so fiercely defending some Imperial slut, that you don't even know?"_

_"Because, she's a human being, and doesn't deserve to be treated like this. So I won't let you touch her, not now, not ever!"_

_"Now I'm giving you an order, as an officer!" the Sergeant snarled, "I order you to give her to us and walk away, forget this ever happened."_

_Just then, from nearby, a voice said "That is an immoral order… and by rules and articles of war, he is not bound to obey it."_

_Everyone looked to the side and now saw Corporal Victor Wulfstan and Private Eleanor Varrot standing together, nearby. Varrot had her hand against her sidearm pistol, ready to draw it. Victor on the other hand was walking towards the sergeant, glaring._

_"Get back man, I've got a knife, you ain't got shit!" he warned._

_Victor shook his head, "That's not a knife…" he said, reaching back and drawing an enormous knife from a sheath attached to the back of his belt, "This… is a knife!"_

_The sergeant shook his head, "This could get messy… someone's bound to die!"_

_David nodded his head, "That's the only way you'll get to these girls, because to get to them you'll have to go through me first! And I'd rather die than let you touch either of them… So bring it on!"_

_The corporal looked around and finally shook his head, "Forget it Sarge, that Imp bitch ain't worth dieing over. Let's get out of her before some higher ranking officer see's us."_

_The sergeant put his knife back in his sheath and shook his head, "Always knew you militia folks were crazy!" and they all took off running and left the Imperial prisoner with the Militia men and women._

_Finally, David lowered his aching, burning arms and fell to his knees, dropped his head and breathed in deep and heavily in exhaustion and relief. A second later, he felt a pair of arms wrap around him and felt someone kiss him on the cheek before embracing him in a hug._

_"Thank-you…" Martha said softly against David's shoulder._

_David was still sweating and bleeding, so he moved his head back and looking Martha in the eyes, "What was that?"_

_Martha's eyes were welling up with tears, but she managed to say, "Thank you!" louder this time and hugged David once again. Now David reached up and held Martha as well, softly stroking the back of her head as well._

_The girl who joined them in the fighting was laughing happily, despite being slightly bruised and bloodied. "That was bloody amazing!" she said, "I'm Catherine O'Hara, please sir, tell me your name!"_

_David looked up and smiled at her, showing his bloody teeth and one black eye, "I'm David… David Mann!"_

* * *

"REALLY?" Claudia cried in disbelief and excitement.

"Yes, your father saved your mother from the evil clutches of those regular idiots!" Catherine laughed, "With a little help from your's truly!" she then looked over at Marina, "Your father helped as well Marina."

Marina nodded her head slightly, "He probably would have killed those guys with great ease…" Though as she said that, she was running her hand across her sheathed hunting knife that belonged to her father, in hidden, inner pride.

"We better get back to the barracks… have to be up early tomorrow…" Marina said to Claudia.

Claudia nodded her head, "Right, I still need to move my stuff over there, so I'll get on that right away." she added, "Oh and Catherine… Thank you, I'm loving my father more and more with each story and have more pride in being Claudia Mann, daughter of David Mann."

Claudia gave Catherine O'Hara a hug, and then went to get her gear and other belongings from the Central Command Building and move them to Squad 1's barracks. Her father was something that she strived to be like, a kind, caring, strong and brave 'Mann' and she wanted to be just like him. With that, she vowed to work as hard as it took to become just like him one day.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20- Gone and Separated**…

It was another early morning day; much of the base was still asleep. The sun was slowly rising in the sky, birds were already chirping, animals waking from their sleep. And in a small clearing in the forest outside of Fort Amatirain, there was some sounds not of nature. It sounded more like a struggle of some kind, and two voices, female voices sounded as if they were locked in combat. There was a lot of grunting, groaning and both sounded pretty worked up.

It was Claudia and Marina; both girls had their jackets removed and were wearing their black, sleeveless turtle neck style undershirts and their blue and white uniform pants and black boots. True to her word, Marina was holding nothing back as she 'taught' Claudia how to fight.

Claudia then released a yelp as she was thrown, yet again, into the dirt floor of the forest clearing, Marina's own private nature sanctuary. Marina's face and body had no bruises or any other kinds of marks on them. The same could not be said for Claudia, she already had a bruise or two on her face and other places that hurt all over her body from the throwing, punching, kicking, grappling and such.

"Get up," Marina ordered, looking down at Claudia who was writhing on the ground in pain. One hand clutched around her stomach, the other on the side of her face.

"Oh… just… give me a minute," Claudia pleaded. Her voice cracking slightly. Now tears were beginning to well up in her eyes, from her sore body and face.

Marina just shook her head and said sternly, "There will be none of that. There is no time."

"I know but… wahh!" Claudia began to cry, she had never been in a fight before and it was a lot more painful than she ever thought it would. Marina was also a very tough instructor and did not pull any punches, throws or grapples. Just like a real opponent would not hold anything back in a real fight.

Marina gritted her teeth together once again and drew her fist back and slammed it hard into a tree, next to her, in a sideways motion. "I have told you! There is no time for that! There is no time!"

Now Claudia bravely held back her tears and sat up, looking towards Marina, while still holding a hand against her bruised cheek.

Marina sighed slowly, "You know that we're assigned to assist the rest of the militia in taking back Fouzen from the Imperials tomorrow, right? So let's get back to training. You should at least have the basics covered before then."

Claudia sighed, then slowly and painfully climbed back to her feet. After a few moments, the two went at it once again. Claudia trying her best to land a punch or any other kind of hit against Marina. She tried to remember her militia hand to hand training from her time in school. As well as Marina's instructions before the start of their lessons.

However, where ever Marina had learned to fight, she was much more skilful and deadly than Claudia was. It was definitely not normal militia training; Claudia had never seen these moves before. Every punch that was thrown was skilfully dodged or deflected away by Marina. Every grapple attempt was easily broken. Just as every kick was blocked with the greatest of ease.

As Claudia raised her leg in a side kick action towards Marina, she grabbed Claudia's leg mid-kick, and with her own leg, swept Claudia's other leg out from under her and sent her onto her back, hard. She then moved in and drew her fist back, ready to deliver a punch. She however stopped once she saw Claudia shield her face with her arms and trembled greatly in fear.

Marina then let go of Claudia and stepped back, looking down at her as she coughed and moaned on the ground. She could tell that she was finished, but was slightly angered; she had done far worse than she had ever thought she would.

So she reached down, grabbing Claudia by the front of the shirt and hauled her to her feet. Her back was then pressed hard into a nearby tree. This time Claudia did nothing to defend herself, she was all worn out and had nothing left in her.

Marina was nearly nose to nose with Claudia and she shook her head as she continued to hold on tightly to Claudia. "You are weak…" she said slowly. "I despise weakness…"

Claudia looked up at Marina and weakly asked, "Why?"

Marina lowered her head for a moment, thought about something, and then nodded her head. Then, without saying a word, she reached up with her left hand, moved it underneath her long black bangs and slowly swept her hair up and out of the way. Both of Marina's eyes were closed. Claudia then gasped slightly upon seeing a long, jagged scar on the left side of Marina's face, running from the top of her forehead, to just slightly below her left eye. Though… the scar ran right over her eyelid as well. Suddenly, both of Marina's eyes opened at the same time, now Claudia gasped much louder, her own eyes widening in fear and surprise.

Marina's right eye was her natural color, violet and perfectly normal. But her left eye was a light bluish white, with a red blood coloured ring around it and drooped just slightly more than her right eye did.

"Marina! You're… you're… you're…" Claudia stammered, unable to form the words.

"Half-Blind?" Marina asked, finishing Claudia's sentence for her.

Claudia just nodded, while still trembling, "What happened to you?"

Marina did not answer at first, she just let go of Claudia and she slide back down to her knees. Marina then walked back to her jacket and threw it back onto her shoulders. As she began to fasten it up, she responded with, "I was young… got into a fight and lost. Because… I was young… I was weak and pathetic… I was just like you…"

Marina then slung her rifle over her shoulder and proceeded back to base, without even waiting for Claudia to gather her things and follow. For a few moments, Claudia remained on the ground, shaken up by what she had just seen. It took her a few moments to collect herself and calm down, but eventually, she got up, grabbed her gear and ran after Marina.

As she ran to catch up a thought came to her, "I see… she's upset because I did so poorly… even against Marina, who has a handicap. Were it Jane or Wendy I had fought, I'd have done even worse…"

* * *

Later that afternoon, the two girls were back at the shooting range, right on time with Marina's 'schedule' as it were. This time they were not the only ones there, scouts and snipers from squads 1 and 7 were getting in some last minute training. They would all have to move out together tomorrow morning, on the long ride to Fouzen, located in the badlands of Gallia.

Claudia was also scheduled in for some shooting practice as well. Except that there were no lanes open at the moment, and engineers were usually the last to practice shoot. It made sense, since Engineers didn't really need to worry about shooting as much as the other units.

So, once again, Claudia sat off at the back of the shooting range and watched Marina shoot once again. Now, she wondered how in the world she was such a good shot, seeing as how she could only see out of one eye. It was indeed something to scratch your head about.

Just then, a deeply accented voice called out to her. "Claudia? Is that you?"

Claudia turned and saw Ellen and Elisa making their way over to her, both had their guns slung over their shoulders. Claudia smiled and waited for them to make their way over to her. Elisa exchanged a happy handshake with Claudia; Ellen just smiled and nervously rubbed her hands together. Both took a seat next to Claudia on the back benches of the shooting range.

Today, Elisa's normal long hair was tied back in a mid high pony tail on the back of her head. This was done to help keep her hair out of her way during shooting. Claudia liked the new look on her. It showed a lot more of her face than usual. Ellen wore a dark blue headband, placed just behind her ears, also to keep her hair out of her way. Claudia's headband already held her hair back for her, so not only was it a lucky keepsake, but also useful and functional for her as well.

Elisa's smile disappeared and she looked more closely at Claudia's face, "Oh my… what happened?" Elisa asked worriedly. "Your face is so bruised…"

Claudia smiled and shook her head, "Nothing to worry about… was just doing some combat training early this morning."

"Looks like some hardcore training if you ask me…" Elisa stated.

Claudia quickly checked her watch; she still had a long time before Marina finished her training. And her slot in the training schedule was also later on in the day.

"Hey girls…. I was wondering," Claudia said, nervous about the question she was about to ask.

"Yes, what is it?" Elisa replied.

"I was wondering… could you teach me to speak some of your language?" Claudia asked.

Elisa and Ellen looked at each other at the same time, and then Elisa responded. "Whatever for?"

Claudia shrugged, "Something to do…" Claudia replied, looking over at Marina, still shooting. "I'm paired up with Marina and during her schedule, I'm not left with much to do but wait most of the time. During my schedule, she tends to sit off to the side and read or study. I Think I'd like to do the same. Also, I've always been interested in the language that you two often speak to each other."

Elisa nodded, then turned to Ellen and gave her head a slight wave to the side, signalling that she wanted to speak with her for a moment alone. The two then walked a short distance away and began to whisper, in their native language, not Gallian.

Now Claudia regretted asking, it might have been too obvious. The truth of it was that she wanted to learn because she herself was half-Imperial and curious about her mother's culture and language, before she converted to Gallian.

Soon, Elisa and Ellen came back, smiling. "Sure, we'll teach you some of our language. It'll be a nice way for us to spend time together." Elisa said. And the language lessons began immediately. Elisa was the main teacher. While Ellen, the shyer one, retrieved her scout pad and wrote down notes for Claudia to study on her own.

* * *

The next day, Squads 1, 3, 5 and 7 headed off to Fouzen together in a massive convoy of tanks, transport trucks, supply trucks and half a dozen medical vehicles. All made their way to the rally point. Which was located just a few miles away from the main entrance gates into Fouzen? The only opening into the canyon style town, either side of the entrance had giant impassable cliffs that went on for miles in either direction.

Squad 5, that was even more gung-ho than Squad 7, volunteered to lead the charge towards the entrance gates. Squad 3 also volunteered to go ahead, next would be Squad 1, then finally Squad 7, with Varrot joining Squad 7. Each squad was advancing in waves of soldiers, tanks and vehicles, rather than an all out charge.

Captain Varrot was off to the side of all the squads, standing in the back of a jeep. She carefully surveyed the area up ahead with large, black binoculars; no threats were visible, which was odd. She then lowered them and turned her head to all the squads.

"Lieutenant Maverick~!" she called out, she then waved her hand forward. "Move your squad forward!"

The lieutenant of the group saluted her from the hatch of his tank, turned to his soldiers and shouted, "Squad! At the double quick! …MARCH!"

The shock troopers, scouts and snipers began to charge across the rocky terrain on foot. The tanks rolled forward, some lancers were sitting on top of the tanks, riding, rather than running with their heavy lances. Following at the very back was one large supply truck, carrying the entire squad's ammo and supplies. A few engineers and other lancers sat in the back cab, making sure everything stayed secure.

The soldiers and tanks of Squad 3 moved forward, taking over the position of the previous squad and stood at the ready. Captain Varrot watched Squad 5's advance with her binoculars, but they weren't coming under any kind of enemy fire just yet.

Meanwhile, at the back, the soldiers from Squad 1 were exiting the transport trucks and quickly forming up in a long battle line behind Squad 3. The tanks were taking up their positions among the troops as well and waited to call to advance.

Claudia breathed in deeply, then exhaled nervously as she looked on at the large clouds of dirt and dust that Squad 5 were kicking up in the distance as they advanced steadily forward.

"Easy Claudia… it doesn't look all that bad actually…" Elisa said, also giving an encouraging pat on her shoulder. Claudia smiled and nodded, then looked back, and spotted Maria. In the back lingered the engineers and lancers. But Marina was not with the other snipers, who were up at the front with the scouts and shock troopers. She chose to stay in the back, most likely to keep an eye on Claudia.

Up at the front, Jane kicked at the ground impatiently. "Not much action going here…" Jane said, slightly disappointed.

"Yep… Nothing…" Wendy replied.

Meanwhile, Faldio was walking through the ranks of his soldiers and happened to notice Jane and Wendy's impatient looks. "Steady girls, steady. You'll soon be forward." he reassured as he walked past them.

Claudia looked down the line of engineers and spotted Nadine, she was clutching a small doll in her hands. Also, her hands were held together, in a praying manner. Her lips were also moving silently in prayer as well.

Claudia looked over to her other side and smiled at Elisa and Ellen, "Shouldn't you girls get up to the front with the other scouts and snipers?"

Elisa chuckled, "Nah, we prefer to stay next to you during this charge. Our one and only friend in this whole Squad," Elisa said with a smile. "We won't let anything happen to you, we promise!"

"Thanks girls…" Claudia said gratefully.

Suddenly, there was a massive 'BOOM' followed by multiple surprised gasps and many heads looking around from the numerous Squads, trying to located the source of the sound. Moments later, the ground up ahead was filled with multiple large explosions, all across the badlands, amongst Squad 5's tanks and soldiers. No one could see how many soldiers were taken out, nor tanks either, but black billowing columns of smoke began to rise from where Squad 5 had just been moments ago.

Nervous and terrified chatter filled the air as the other squads watched the devastation happening just up ahead. Another series of powerful explosions then went off across the land, this time further away, they must have still been firing at Squad 5. Another minute later, even more explosions rocked the land. Once those ceased, foot soldiers and badly damaged tanks began to appear, making their way back through the black smoke. They were the survivors of Squad 5, now in full retreat. Some were limping; some were running for their lives. The supply truck was gone and only two tanks remained, both were badly damaged and smoking.

Captain Varrot saw this, lowered her binoculars and turned her head to the left, "Squad 3! Move out!" she ordered at the top of her lungs, to be heard over the explosions. Squad 3 then advanced at the double quick in the same manner as Squad 5 did earlier.

"Medical teams, forward!" she ordered next. The medical trucks advanced slowly. While the medics on foot then began to jog next to the medical trucks, to help those in need just up ahead.

As Squad 3 advanced at the double quick, with the medics in tow behind them, Squad 1 moved into Squad 3's previous position. They would be next to advance forward when called to.

Squad 3 disappeared into the black clouds of smoke and continued the advance. The medical teams were quickly loading injured soldiers into the trucks or even carrying them on their shoulders or carrying them in pairs back to the retreat point on stretchers, behind Squads 1 and 7.

Claudia's eyes were wide as saucers as she watched injured soldiers limp past them. Just then, two medics carrying a stretcher with a screaming injured soldier made their way past them to the back of the Squads.

Faldio then walked past and placed his hand on Claudia's shoulder, "Don't be scared Claudia," he said. "I know it seems like a terrible long distance up ahead. But it will be shortened by those squads in front of us. See, Squad 3 made it further than Squad 5 did!"

Faldio then walked away, but Ellen shook her head, "The only thing that's being shortened by those in the front is their lives…"

Elisa nodded, "We've still not heard Squads 3 or 5 fire back at the enemy," she observed. "Whatever it is that's raining hell upon us is making pure one sided attacks…"

Claudia nodded and became ever more nervous. Soon, it would be their turn to move out, just like Squads 3 and 5. Knowing this, Claudia was just about to depart for the supply truck, to get in the back. But Elisa and Ellen grabbed her.

"You don't want to go in there…" Elisa whispered. "With all the ammo and explosives in the back, it's a powder keg just waiting to explode. You'll be safer on the ground with us."

Claudia looked back at Marina and she nodded her head, agreeing with Elisa and Ellen's suggestion. Nadine had also heard them and said, "I agree, I'm taking my chances on the ground. I'm not getting into the back of the supply truck or onto one of the tanks."

The rest could not be said by the rest of the squad; some were foolishly climbing into the back of the supply truck, others onto tanks and riding on top of them into battle.

The bombardment upon Squad 3 continued and eventually, those who were left were retreating back to the rear of the rallied Squads. Up ahead there were soldiers running for their lives, tanks rolling back through the black smoke and injured, limping soldiers following in the back. Once again, the medical teams charged forward to rescue the injured.

Captain Varrot lowered her head, cursed, then looked to Squad 1. "Squad 1... Forward, NOW!"

Faldio nodded, "Squad 1! At the double quick! Forward! March!" He then hopped aboard one of Squad 1's tanks and led the charge. The rest of Squad 1 followed on foot, other's riding on the tanks or in the back of the supply truck. They had some time before they would come under fire. As no squad was attacked until they reached the columns of smoke, a little more than a hundred meters ahead.

A short while later, the entire squad then entered the black billowing columns of smoke from where Squad 5 was first engaged. The area that was covered by smoke was massive, as day was turned to almost dark as night, save for some burning fires up ahead. These belonged to the destroyed tanks of Squads 5 and 3 from the previous charges.

Though it was hard to see, Soldiers up ahead from Squad 1 were shouting loudly, "Keep going! This way!" Faldio shouted. That combined with the shouting, yelling and war cries from the other charging soldiers helped give a general idea of where their squad mates were and where to run to, even with the entire thick smoke.

Claudia was huffing and puffing, all of her gear was weighing her down, it was extremely tiring running with all the gear she had to carry. But she remembered she was safer on the ground, where her friends were watching out for her. This was confirmed when Marina and Elisa grabbed an arm each and helped Claudia run with them.

"Come on Claudia! Keep going! Keep running!" Elisa urged.

Overhead, a sudden and terrifying shrieking sound came, quickly growing louder. This was soon followed by the same series of explosions that had devastated the other Squads. Fortunately, as luck would have it, they happened far up ahead from where Claudia and her group were making their charge. Though the screams confirmed that some of their squad mates, the ones further up ahead were hit. The new fires up ahead must have meant that they had lost a tank or two in the bombings.

It was still hard to see through all the thick smoke and dust in the air. This was the cause of Claudia's sudden trip as her foot caught an unseen rock. She hit the ground face first a second later, dragging Marina and Elisa to her knees as they were still holding onto Claudia. Ellen also stopped, dropped to one knee and attempted to help Claudia back up to her feet.

Perhaps it was a stroke of luck that they did fall, because the next round of bombardment occurred just as they all hit the dirt, their low to the ground position had protected them much better than those up ahead where the bombs fell.

Elisa shook her head, "I don't care what anyone else says, you're damn good luck to have!"

"Thanks…" Claudia said softly, still slightly winded.

She was then helped back up to her feet by the three girls. However, the sounds of shouting and screaming from their allies sounded further away. They were beginning to be fall behind and everyone knew it, including Marina.

"Come on! Pick up the pace! We can't fall behind again!"

They then got back to running side by side. Hopping over dead bodies from Squad 1, 3 and 5 soldiers, moving around destroyed tanks and blast craters, desperately trying to catch up to their comrades up ahead.

Not long after, Claudia came upon a sight that made her break away from Elisa and Marina's grip and stop dead in her tracks, "Oh no… Nadine!" Claudia cried, dropping to her knees next to Nadine's still figure on the ground. She had some metal shrapnel lodged in one of her legs, her head was cut and bleeding and she wasn't moving.

Claudia then felt her arm being tugged by Marina, "Come on! Leave her for the medics! We have to keep moving!"

Claudia ripped her arm free from Marina's tight grip, "I can't leave her!" Claudia said with tears forming in her eyes. "She's my friend…"

Marina clenched her teeth together, and then looked back over her shoulder. She couldn't see her squad mates anymore or hear them as clearly. They had fallen behind, just as Marina had feared. The rest of their squad mates were far, far ahead now, perhaps too far ahead to catch up to now.

Elisa nodded, setting her sniper rifle down. "Alright Claudia," She said. "We'll stay and help Nadine…"

Claudia took off her own backpack and set it aside quickly. Elisa and Ellen were quickly removing Nadine's backpack and tool belt for her and rolled her onto her back. Suddenly, just as Claudia used some of her Ragnaid to heal Nadine's head injury, they hear a low rumbling, slowly growing louder. All of the girls looked back, and through the smoke, came Squad 7's massive tank, many of Seven's riding on top.

The tank then came to a quick stop and from atop the massive tank, they saw a red and white headscarf wearing girl lean down and offer a gloved hand to them, "Quick! Hop on!" Shouted Sergeant Alicia Melchiott.

Marina quickly grabbed Alicia's hand and was the first to climb aboard. Ellen followed next, while Elisa and Claudia helped raise Nadine up and with the aid of a Darcsen man and woman from Squad 7, they were able to get her safely aboard. Squad 7's supply truck, which was following Captain Varrot's jeep, drove past them and continued on.

Then finally, it was Claudia and Elisa's turn and they climbed aboard. Both of the girls sat at the back of the massive tank, behind the turret. Where they were sitting, there were some leather straps that were used to secure equipment into place. However, with some quick thinking, Claudia used these to strap Nadine into place, just as the tank started to drive forward once again. Its speed was incredible, as was its manoeuvrability.

Claudia was amazed to find that in addition to her own group, nearly all of the other Seven's were able to ride aboard the massive tank at the same time. The others must have been in the supply truck or with Captain Varrot in her jeep.

The bombings continued, but thankfully the end was in sight. The sun was beginning to shine through the black smoke up ahead. And with how fast the Sevens tank could drive, they were almost in the clear, Fouzen couldn't have been much further ahead.

However, during the ride, Claudia noticed that the straps that were holding Nadine down weren't secured as tightly as she had thought. Every bump they went over was causing the latch, used to secure her to the tank, to come looser with each hit. Claudia was extremely worried for her safety, so she let go of the strap that she was holding onto and crawled back on her hands and knees to the rear of the tank. Quickly, she re-secured Nadine back into place, making sure the latch would not come undone again. Unfortunately, the next bump they hit was a very big one, so big that it tossed poor Claudia up and off of the fast moving tank.

Many of the Squads soldiers had kept their eyes glued forward, cheering as the end was almost in sight. Ellen and Elisa however, kept their eyes on their friend the whole time and saw her go overboard. Then, without a moments pause, the two of them jumped off, to rescue their friend.

Once they were through the black smoke and blazing towards Fouzen, Marina, who only took her eye off of Claudia for a mere moment looked back and couldn't see her anymore. She was gone.

"Claudia?" Marina asked over the roaring of the tank engine. "Claudia!"

She attempted to jump off of the tank as well, but was quickly grabbed and tightly held by Alicia and Susie Evans.

"No! Don't do it Marina! Don't jump!" Susie pleaded, holding onto her tightly.

"You'll never make it if you jump off! The rest of the retreated units are way too far to walk back to and we've still got some ways to go before we're safe!" Alicia added.

"But Claudia fell off! She's my responsibility!" Marina protested. But Alicia and Susie held onto her for all they were worth. They needed her, because other than a few survivors from Squad 1, they were the only squad who had made it through. They were the only hope that the Darcsen residents of Fouzen had. As sad as it was, they had to leave Claudia and the others behind, and continue onward to Fouzen without them. Hopefully their sacrifices would count in the end and Fouzen would still be liberated thanks to their heroism.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21- Stepping out of his shadow**

The sun was beginning to set in the badlands of Gallia, though the black plumes of smoke were still visible as the fires from dozens of destroyed Gallian tanks continued to burn in the distance. Much of the main force was destroyed or forced to retreat earlier that day, with only a small portion was able to make it through the Imperials attack.

Although, there was one girl who hadn't retreated or made it into Fouzen with Squad Seven and the remnants of Squad one. That girl, was Claudia Mann. Still alive, but now separated and in a tough situation.

Slowly, her dark blue eyes began to open. As she blinked and raised her head to look at her surroundings, she found that she was on her back, and in the shade of a large rock. She held a hand to her head, both to check if she still had her fathers headband on, and check for injuries. She felt a bump on the back of her head. She closed her eyes and tried to remember what had happened.

"Hmmm… I was on the Edelweiss… tending to Nadine. Then… I must have fallen off…" Claudia said softly, "Hmmm… odd how I'd end up under a rock with-"

Claudia gasped and bolted up right and looked around. She spotted a sniper rifle, along with a snipers bandoleer, and a belt with an open and empty binocular pouch. On her other side, she found a rifle, along with another belt and an opened scout pouch laying on the ground. She wasn't alone… but who did these belong to? Friendly's? or Enemies?

The sound of approaching footsteps caused Claudia's heart to leap into her throat. She felt around her tool belt and was thankful to find that her sidearm holster was still in place and had the weapon tucked within.

She quickly sat up, drew her sidearm and pointed it at the side of the rock, where the person was approaching from. Her hands began to tremble as the footsteps got closer and louder.

Suddenly, "Whoa, Claudia! Don't shoot! It's just me!" Elisa said while holding her hands up.

Claudia lowered the weapon as she breathed a sigh of relief, "Oh… Elisa. Thank goodness! I thought that you were an Imperial."

Elisa smiled, "I am an Imperial."

"No, no! I meant a bad Imperial, I mean-"

Elisa chuckled, "It's alright. I understand what you mean."

Claudia sat back against the rock and looked up at Elisa, "Who else is here?"

"Ellen. She was the first to jump off after you, Claudia."

"Really?"

"Yes, she's very fond of you, Claudia." Elisa said with a smile.

Claudia looked around while blushing, "So… where is she?"

"She's out doing what she does best," said Elisa with a bright smile, "She is scouting."

* * *

Not long after, Ellen had returned to Claudia and Elisa's side, "Bad news…." she said downheartedly, "The rest of the militia have retreated from the area. Worse yet, the Imperials are now out patrolling for any stragglers. I was fortunate not to have been seen when I was out there."

Elisa nodded, "So we can't stay here."

"But, where are we going to go?" Claudia asked, "Do you have any idea how far it is back to Fort Amatirain! We'll never make it!"

Elisa turned towards the canyons that housed Fouzen, "Then we proceed with the mission and hope that we can somehow catch up with the others who made it through."

"Are you fit to proceed?" Ellen asked Claudia with concern in her eyes.

Claudia nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's get going. We don't have much sunlight left." The trio then hurried their way towards the mighty canyon walls of Fouzen in the distance.

* * *

Eventually they arrived, but as they got closer and Elisa scouted the main entrance gates with her binoculars, and something didn't seem right.

"I don't get it…" Elisa said, "If the others really made it through… why is the gate still intact?"

Elisa passed her binoculars to Claudia and she looked through them. She saw the two large guard towers and the giant metal gate. The towers had their lights on and two or more Imperial guards were visible inside the windows. Two machine gun nests were set up on either side of the gate and a medium tank was parked right in front of the gates.

"No sights of a fight…" Claudia said as she lowered the binoculars and passed them back to Elisa.

"Well… looks like we'll have to find some other way in." Elisa suggested.

The three then continued towards Fouzen but started to go to the left to stay far away from the guards and the towers. Soon they reached the canyon, and cranked their necks back in order to look up at the high rocky walls. There were many ledges and gaps in the rock face and this gave Elisa an idea.

"Well, who's up for a climb?" Elisa asked excitedly as she rubbed her hands together.

Claudia gulped, "Are you sure about this?"

"We can't go through the main gates. And it'll take far too long to walk around trying to find another way into Fouzen, so it's the only option we have at the moment."

"Ok…" said Ellen nervously.

Claudia took a deep breath and sighed, "Very well…"

The girls then set their weapons aside and placed their packs and pouches on the ground. They then started removing all non-essential items, in order to lighten up for the long climb ahead.

However, as Claudia was taking out some machine gun magazines and handgun clips, she heard a noise. She looked over and saw some movement in the dark. Curious, she stood up and began to slowly walk towards the source, her hand hovering over her pistol handle, just in case.

Just then, "Hey, Claudia! Where're you going?" Elisa asked as she clicked on her flashlight and shone it on Claudia's back.

But as she did that, Claudia happened to notice what appeared to be… a child. A Darcsen child at that, mostly hidden behind a rock up ahead. Claudia gasped and took out her own flashlight and shone it on the rock, but the girl was gone now.

Ellen and Elisa then ran up to Claudia and stood on either side of her, "What's wrong?" Ellen asked.

Claudia gave her head a shake, thinking maybe it was just her imagination or perhaps she hit her head harder than she thought when she fell off the Edelweiss.

"I'm not entirely sure… But I think I just saw a small Darcsen child. Just up there." Claudia said as she pointed to a large rock with her flashlight beam

Elisa shone her light on the rock, and Claudia continued to walk towards it. Ellen was shining her beam to the left and right, checking the surrounding area.

"I don't mean to sound rude… But are you sure you saw what you saw? I mean, what in the world would a child be doing all the way out here?" Elisa asked.

"I don't know. But we should check it out anyway. Perhaps she got lost or escaped Fouzens occupation and is now all alone." said Claudia just as she reached the rock. She then looked behind it, but the Darcsen girl wasn't there. There was, however, a very large pair of tank treads next to the rock.

"Hey, come check this out!" Claudia called out. Ellen and Elisa then ran up to Claudia's position and knelt down beside her.

"Hmmm… these tracks are far too large to belong to the Imperial light tanks that we've encountered in the past."

"There even too big for the medium class tanks…" said Ellen shyly.

Further inspection of the area showed multiple footprints on either side of the tank. Claudia decided to follow them, while Ellen and Elisa trailed slightly in the back. After some walking they came to a cave-like entrance with a huge boulder next to it. Even stranger, the tank treads and all of the footprints disappeared into the cave.

The girls all looked at each other, taking a silent vote. Elisa nodded, as well as Ellen, and Claudia gulped nervously and went into the cave first, her friends then followed.

The first few meters of the cave walls were very large, very wide and had tank treads leading further down the tunnel, multiple footprints were also visible on the soft ground. Then, both the tread tracks and the footprints suddenly stopped at a dead end. A huge boulder was blocking the rest of the way, and the treads and footprints seemed to have continued onwards… somehow.

Seeing the way forward was blocked, the girls searched around for a bit. Claudia then spotted a smaller tunnel and decided to head down that way, Elisa and Ellen followed close behind. A minute or so later, the girls came across a slightly large cave, up ahead were three more tunnel entrances; one had a rocky staircase leading up. The middle tunnel lead straight ahead. The third had a descending staircase, leading further into the earth.

As Claudia pondered which route to take, she heard Elisa and Ellen speaking to each other in their Imperial dialect. Ellen's voice was trembling, similar to a shivering voice in a deep cold. Elisa patted her on the back and replied in a confident and reassuring voice.

Though Claudia was only a beginner at the Imperial language, but she was able to pick up parts of the conversation. She understood that Ellen was afraid, perhaps of the dark or situation itself. And Elisa was telling her not to be afraid, and that she'd protect her, or something to that sort.

Suddenly, "Hyaa!" came a screaming male voice, the girls only had a second to look over, then they all hit the ground, just in time to avoid being hit by a flying pickaxe that sailed over their heads and struck the nearby rock wall. Claudia looked over and saw a Darcsen man recover from the hit, then perform an overhead swing directly at her. Luckily she rolled out of the way and it struck the ground and sent bits of rock flying all over the place.

Elisa then pushed the man who tried to attack her and he slammed into the wall. Another Darcsen man emerged from the shadows and tried to attack Elisa with another pickaxe. She leaned out of the way and avoided getting hit in the stomach by mere centimetres, then dodged another wild swing as she ducked in the nick of time. She then pulled out her sidearm and pistol whipped the man across the back of the head, sending him to the ground, dazed, but relatively unhurt.

Claudia breathed a sigh of relief at seeing Elisa safe. But a nearby scream made her turn her head and she saw Ellen scrambling backwards on her hands, with her legs and feet pushing her as fast as she could. Across from her, the other Darcsen man was charging at her with the pickaxe held overhead, ready to bring it down on the helpless Ellen in a lethal killing blow.

Elisa swung her sidearm pistol in his direction, aimed and ordered, "Stop! Don't you dare!"

He continued to charge towards Ellen, and she turned her head and released a horrified scream. Claudia also turned her head and shut her eyes, she couldn't bear to watch what was going to happen next.

Two loud echoing gunshots rang out, then all was quiet.

Claudia slowly opened her eyes and turned back to Ellen, only to find the Darcsen man facedown in the cold, damp, rocky ground, dead. She barely had time to process what had just happened, when the other Darcsen man got up and screamed in horror. He then took off down the descending staircase, all while screaming, "Tom's dead! They killed him!"

Claudia quickly climbed to her feet, looked over at Elisa helping Ellen to her feet… then heard a strange sound. A lot of angry shouting, and a thunderous sound that echoed across the caves. All the girls looked at the tunnels, the two with an ascending and descending staircase were suddenly being lit up by orange and red flickers… torches. A hornets nest had obviously been stirred up and its residents were coming to swarm the new invaders to their home… Claudia and her friends.

Claudia shook her head, "Oh no… RUN!" she screamed and started down the only tunnel that had no torch lights or angry voices present, the middle only that lead straight ahead.

* * *

After some running the girls came into a huge and vast open cavern. Lining the walls on either side were small huts, burning fires and… Darcsens. Claudia quickly remembered reading something in a book about how Darcsens usually go into hiding during a crisis; such as a hunt or time of war. Could this be one of those fabled sanctuary's of the Darcsens?

Claudia and her friends looked back and saw their pursuers entering the vast caverns as well, all were shouting angrily and were armed with spears, rifles, pickaxes, or any other crude weapons they could get their hands on. They then called out to the other Darcsens in the area, telling them to catch the Imperial intruders.

Now, no matter which direction Claudia looked, there were dozens of Darcsens closing in from all sides. Claudia put her arms out to the sides and stopped Ellen and Elisa in their tracks. They all turned and placed their backs to one another and were now in a defensive triangular shape. Ellen and Elisa both had their side arms out and pointed towards all the Darcsen's as they encircled them. Claudia had her hand against her side arm pouch, but ultimately decided not to draw it, lest it cause even more problems.

The girls were now completely surrounded, with rifles being aimed at them, pitchforks and spears were poking and prodding at the air just a few feet away from the girls chests and legs. Then, just when all seemed hopeless…

"STOP!" A voice commanded from somewhere up high.

Claudia looked up and spotted a strong looking Darcsen man with a shawl wrapped around his shoulders and another wrapped around his head. One of his eyes was closed as he looked down at Claudia from a tunnel on an upper level of the cavern. Someone else suddenly appeared next to the man, a woman dressed in a squad seven uniform.

"Claudia, darling! You're alive!" Catherine O'Hara happily exclaimed.

"You know this one?" the strong Darcsen man asked.

"Of Course, Zaka. She's a very close friend of mine!" Catherine said as she climbed down and made her way through the mob of Darcsen and embraced Claudia in a tight bear hug.

"They have killed one of ours, Zaka!" shouted an angry man, he was the same one who attacked the girls earlier.

"Your people attacked first!" Elisa shouted, her voice bearing a heavy Imperial accent.

"They're Imperials! I heard them talking in that their native tongue!" the man challenged next.

"But we're fighting with Gallia! Not against it!" Elisa continued. There was a sea of unsure murmurs, many were having a hard time imagining an Imperial helping Gallian in this war.

"Enough!" Zaka commanded, "We'll sort this out later. But for now, we're going to have to detain you. I'll have no more killing on my watch."

Ellen looked extremely nervous, and Elisa looked to be quite angry. She must have been upset at how she and Ellen were being treated, despite the fact that they weren't at fault for what happened.

Some resistance members started towards Elisa and Ellen. They made a grab for Ellen, but Elisa stood in front of her protectively. "Don't touch her! Leave her alone!"

"Elisa! Please! Don't fight back!" Claudia pleaded as she tried to walk towards her friends. But she was grabbed from behind by Catherine and pulled back. Her arms then wrapped around Claudia's waist and held her firmly in place.

"Don't, Lass." Catherine whispered, "The best thing that you can do is keep quiet and let things sort themselves out. Zaka is a fair man. He won't pass unfair judgement on these girls just because they're Imperials. He'll hear both sides of the story."

More resistance members started to walk towards Claudia, But Catherine pulled her aside and shook her head at them. "Not this one, Zaka. She's Gallian, born and raised." Catherine insisted, "I'll take her directly to Captain Varrot. She'll want to know as soon as possible that Claudia made it back alive, along with her Imperial comrades."

Zaka thought for a moment, then nodded his head, "Fine. I trust your word, Catherine. Leave that one be." he ordered his resistance members.

When Claudia looked back, she saw that both Ellen and Elisa had been disarmed of their weapons and were having their hands bound behind theirs back with rope. It was such a sad sight for Claudia to see, but also, she was relieved that she wasn't part of it as well.

* * *

Catherine then led Claudia by the hand to the upper levels, leaving Elisa and Ellen behind. A short way into their walk and just before they entered the smaller tunnel systems of the main hideout, Claudia stopped and Catherine looked back as she felt the tug on her hand.

"Catherine… Thank you for going out of your way to lie for me. It means a lot that you're going so far to protect me."

Catherine smiled and shook her head slowly, "I wasn't lying, Lass. You may have some Imperial blood in you, but your mother raised you here in Gallia and brought you up to be Gallian, like her husband was. It was clear that she did not want you to be Imperial, like she was, dear. So when I told them that you were Gallian, born and raised, it was the truth, not a lie."

Catherine lifted Claudia's chin up with her hand and smiled at her, then turned and continued on walking down the narrow tunnel systems. Soon they came into a larger 'room' that had members of Squad's one and Seven all sitting or sleeping against the walls. Others were talking together in groups or looking out the little rocky slits at the Fouzen complexes below.

However, two individuals from Squad One turned and spotted Claudia, "Why am I not surprised…" Jane Turner said in disgust, "Yet again you somehow managed to make it back without so much as a scratch while so much of our squad was wiped out in the bombardments earlier, bah!"

As Jane was leaving, Wendy Cheslock added, "You really are bad luck… worse yet, you're like a cockroach that just won't die!" She then left as well and followed Jane.

Claudia looked down at the ground in sadness, but Catherine just patted her on the shoulder, "Don't let them get to you, Claudia darling. They're just stressed out from today's horrible events." Catherine encouraged, "Come on, let's go see the Captain." and the two girls continued on.

Not long into their walk, they could hear Captain Varrot angrily shouting at someone in a room that had a curtain drawn to provide some privacy, while it didn't provide much soundproofing.

"NEVER have I had someone speak to me the way you just have, Corporal Wulfstan!" Varrot screamed, "Get out! I'll not hear another word from you!"

Marina threw the curtain aside and stomped past Catherine just as she pulled Claudia aside to avoid being trampled. Claudia then looked up at Catherine with a '_**what was that**_?' look, but she just shrugged. Catherine then gulped and knocked on the side of the cave to get Captain Varrot's attention.

She sighed loudly, then said "Enter!"

Catherine cautiously entered the room, Claudia followed though she hid behind Catherine and peeked over her shoulder at Captain Varrot, who was leaning forward against a makeshift desk with her hands on top. Whatever happened just moments before, it had left the captain steaming with anger.

"E-evening, Captain…" Catherine said nervously as she came to attention and saluted her, though the Captain didn't even bother to return the salute, nor turn around.

"What is it, Catherine?" she asked quickly, sounding extremely impatient.

Catherine tugged at the collar of her black undershirt nervously, "W-well… I bring good news… a-and bad news… Captain…"

She then reached back and brought Claudia out from behind her and held onto her shoulders, presenting her to the captain. "Here's the good news…"

Captain Varrot turned around, and nodded. "I see. Word reached my ear not long ago that she had made it back. It's good to see that she's uninjured as well…" Though she didn't sound too relieved, and was still probably fuming inside about what happened with Marina. Though Claudia couldn't fathom what must have happened to make her so angry.

Catherine nodded, "But the bad news is thing… a resistance member was killed by one of the Imperial girls from squad one. I know that's probably the last thing that you want to hear, but-"

"It was self-defence!" Claudia interrupted anxiously.

Varrot held up her hand, while rubbing her forehead with the other, "Please, Claudia… Let Catherine finish. I'll get your side of the story later."

Catherine patted Claudia on the shoulder, then continued with, "Their leader, Zaka, would like to speak to you, Captain Varrot" said Catherine.

Varrot shook her head, and then retrieved her hat from off the desk and put it on. She then turned to Claudia and said "I think that you should go and get some rest before tomorrow's mission."

Just before she left, she turned back to Claudia and said "It's good to have you back." and then walked out.

"You know, I think that you should go and see Nadine before you retire, Claudia darling." Catherine suggested, "She's been so worried about you since she awoke to discover that you were missing."

Claudia nodded happily, "I will, thanks for everything, Catherine!"

"Anytime, sweetie… Anytime." She then left to catch up with Varrot.

* * *

After a short search, Claudia found Lynn, one of Nadine's good friends and asked her, "Where's Nadine? Is she alright?"

"Claudia? My gosh! You are alive!" she said happily, "Come with me! Nadine will be so relieved." And she took her by the hand and led her to where Nadine and the other injured members of squads one and seven were resting.

Over in one corner, many of the 'Sevens' were crowded around, crying as a body was being covered up by white sheet. A casualty. But many of the 'Ones' were shaking their heads disapprovingly.

"My God, people!" Jane shouted, "You've lost one person in this whole war, we've lost forty! Seeing you like this is so damn ridiculous!"

She and Wendy then stomped off together, Jane purposefully bumped her shoulder into Claudia so hard that she lost her footing and fell over, "Hey, watch where you're-" Lynn started.

"Zip it, dark-hair!" Jane shot back, "You've no idea who you're trying to protect, stick around her for much longer and you're sure to die just like everyone else she's been around!"

Before Lynn or Claudia could respond, Jane and Wendy had moved on. Lynn helped Claudia to her feet, "I don't care what they say… were it not for you, Nadine surely would have died out there."

"Thank you…" Claudia replied happily. She then remembered that Ellen and Elisa contributed to her rescue and wanted Lynn to know as well, "But I should tell you-"

"Claudia?" Nadine asked weakly from off the floor where she was lying in a cot with a blanket covering her.

Claudia smiled, then ran up to Nadine and knelt down next to her, "Yeah, it's me… in the flesh."

"I'm told that I owe you my life, Claudia."

"There's something I need to tell you, both of you…" Claudia said, "It's because of Ellen and Elisa that I was able to help you, Nadine. I never could have gotten you onto that tank by myself."

"The Imperial girls? The ones who killed one of our people?" Lynn asked.

"No, no! It's not like that!" Claudia replied, "He came at her with a pickaxe. Elisa tried to warn him, but was ignored. She had no choice but to do what she did to protect Ellen and me."

Lynn looked at Nadine and shook her head, both of them didn't reply.

"But that's not the point, even before that, they acted to help you, Nadine. I believe that these Imperial girls are different than the other Imps that you've encountered in the past. So please don't treat them as such, treat them as you would me."

"It's different, Claudia. You're Gallian." said Lynn.

Claudia swallowed hard and made up her mind to confess her true heritage, "W-well, there's something that I should-"

"Alright, listen up!" Largo shouted, "Lights out in ten minutes! We don't want any of you fighting half asleep tomorrow morning!"

"Yes, sir!" Everyone, including Lynn and Nadine replied.

Everyone then shuffled off to find a place to lie down and rest, and just as Lynn was getting up, she asked, "What were you going to say?"

Claudia's heart was thumping in her chest after having almost confessed, but she quickly shook her head, "Nothing, it's not important! I just ask that you try and give these girls a chance."

Lynn sighed, "It'll be tough… going against thousand of years of mistrust, hatred and ill feelings towards our natural enemies… but we'll try."

"Yes… we will…" Nadine replied.

"Good, now get some rest." Claudia said with a smile as she reached down and squeezed Nadine's shoulder and left.

* * *

As she was making her way down the dark tunnels, searching for a place to lie down, she heard someone shuffling through some papers. She then peeked into a small cut out room in the cave and saw Marina with her back to her. Papers were strewn about on the floor around her feet and she was still skimming over pages and then tossing them over her shoulders. After she got to the last sheet, she slammed her fists into the wooden table in front of her in frustration.

Despite this, Claudia entered the room and decided to try and talk to Marina.

"Excuse me, Marina." she said. Marina looked over her shoulder and shook her head, then looked forward again.

"I'm so sick of this…" Marina growled.

"Hmm… what?"

Marina then walked over to Claudia, and she backed up until she hit the wall, then Marina got nose to nose with her and glared, "Listen and listen good. I'm going to tell you exactly what I told captain varrot earlier.

* * *

_**Marina had just arrived at the captains quarters in the hidden mine shafts of the fouzen resistance base. She quickly saluted the captain, then stood at attention.**_

"_**At ease, corporal." Varrot ordered. Marina did as she was told and assumed the position. "Now… I gave you a mission, corporal. To protect Claudia for me. That mission was not fulfilled when she became lost to us during the bombardment. You made it here alone, and even failed to report this incident to me. I had to find out through Alicia Melchiott of Squad Seven… now… why is that?"**_

"…" _**Marina simply remained staring straight ahead with her hands held together behind her back.**_

"_**You may speak freely, corporal."**_

"_**Very well," Marina responded, "I did not see it as being an important enough issue to disturb you with, Captain."**_

"_**What?" Captain Varrot asked in surprise.**_

"_**Have you forgotten about all the others that were lost this day? Almost three-quarters of our army, Captain? Does that not concern you even more than what happened with Claudia?" Marina continued, "Or do you continue to show favouritism and be overly concerned with this one, single girl in this whole entire war?"**_

_**Captain Varrot looked very offended, but took a deep breath and calmed down. "I will not engage in this discussion." Captain Varrot replied, "Word has just reached my ear that Claudia has made it back alive and is on her way here. And I know that what happened today, with you two being separated, will not happen again. I know your quality Marina, you're just like your father, and he never ever made the same mistake twice during his time in the-"**_

"_**Oh stop it!" Marina shouted angrily, "I've had it with you treating me and Claudia as you would our fathers. I am not my father. Neither is she. We're two different people.**_

_**And what you did today, showing favouritism towards Claudia despite all the other crisis's we're facing is unacceptable for someone of your standing, Captain! And it only proves one thing… that you're just a sad old woman who's let her love and affection for our fathers cloud her judgement and command decisions here in this war!"**_

_**Captain Varrot slammed her palms against the wooden table, "NEVER have I had someone speak to me the way you just have, Corporal Wulfstan!" Varrot screamed, "Get out! I'll not hear another word from you!"**_

* * *

Claudia gasped, "Y-you actually said that…? To our captain?"

Marina shook her head angrily, "It needed to be said. It is clear that the captain has been emotionally compromised and isn't basing any of her decisions about you or I as she should be. She put us in squad one because that was the squad our fathers served in. She paired us up because our fathers were friends. She's even overlooking all our faults and mistakes because we're the daughters of her friends… but no longer.

I'm Marina Wulfstan, and I'll be treated as I deserve! Not as my father deserves in her eyes! And I'm more than damn capable of creating my own path in life and not hiding in my father's shadow."

Marina then looked Claudia dead in the eye and while glaring said, "And if you have any respect for yourself, or your father, then you'll stop hiding behind his achievements and learn to step out of his shadow." Marina then turned and walked off, leaving Claudia stunned and unsure what to make of this.

A short while later, Claudia was unable to fall asleep, so she got up and headed towards Captain Varrot's quarters. But as she got closer, she could hear Catherine O'Hara having a discussion with Varrot, as well as another man's voice. There was a hole torn in the curtain covering the entrance, so Claudia tiptoed up to the curtain and peered through, spotting Captain Varrot with her arms crossed, and her back turned to Catherine and an old man with a blue headband. He was bent over and holding a hand to his aching back.

"Please, Eleanor, you don't have to take all the responsibility of watching over Claudia Mann." Catherine pleaded, "We all made the same promise to that young girls father, you know."

"Indeed, He was our friend too, Eleanor. And I know a way that we'll all be able to watch our for her, instead of placing all that duty onto Murdock's daughter's shoulders." the old man with a blue headband said.

Catherine nodded, "Yes, great plan, Coby! Transfer Claudia to Squad Seven, Captain! She'll be much safer there!"

"NO!" Varrot shouted as she turned and glared at Catherine, "This is one request that I will not do. Squad Seven has become the most elite fighting unit in this war. So a place amongst their ranks must be earned, not given freely."

Seeing that Marina was right, Claudia decided to put a stop to it, so she opened the curtain and entered unannounced. Everyone turned and saw her approaching.

"Oh… Claudia… Darling… we were just talking about you." Catherine said as her eyes darted back and forth like a nervous bird.

"I know, I heard what you said." Claudia said, "And I want it to stop. Please stop treating me with such high regard and being overly protective of me, just because you all knew my father. I never met him, so I don't want to be treated like him!"

"Listen, girl, if you knew what kind of man your father was, then you'd-" Coby started.

"I don't care! Not anymore!" Claudia cried as she threw her hands up in frustration.

Catherine grimaced, then said, "Claudia, dear, you do not know what you're saying."

"Yes I do, I know exactly what I'm saying! Treat me as I deserve! Not as my father deserves!" Claudia shouted, "Because in the end… he was a fool!

Despite whatever he did, whatever glorious achievements he may have accomplished, he ended up leaving mother and I alone when he died… by going on that stupid, stupid mission to avenge my uncle Robert's slain family."

Catherine gasped, "Robert told you about that? But, Claudia, that isn't how-"

"Silence, Catherine!" Varrot ordered, "You know that we are forbidden to discuss that event."

Catherine then closed her mouth and nodded, Coby looked off to the side and grunted.

Captain Varrot sighed angrily, then stood up and walked over to Claudia. Once she reached her, she held out her hand, "Give me the headband." she ordered.

"What?" Claudia cried.

"You can't be serious!" Catherine protested.

"Now that's going too far, Captain." Coby added.

"I gave you an order, private. Give. Me. The headband. Now!"

Claudia's lips were quivering, her eyes beginning to well up with tears, but she still obeyed and reached up, removed her red headband and placed it into Varrot's waiting hand. Once she had it, she turned and walked back to her desk.

"Captain! This isn't right!" Catherine objected, "That belonged to Claudia's father! You can't just-"

"I CAN'T?" Varrot growled as she turned to everyone and glared daggers at them, "What I can't do is allow someone who soils the name of a man, so brave and selfless, to wear **his **headband.

If Claudia wishes me to treat her as she deserves, then she doesn't deserve to wear this. It belonged to a man far more courageous, far more selfless and far more respected than any other within our group of friends. I know that's what you all think of and remember when you look at it, am I right?"

Coby and Catherine nodded, Varrot then looked down at Claudia, "I can't tell you everything, Claudia. But I will tell you this; That mission that your father died on… it was led by him, not Robert. And it was not a revenge mission, but one that saved hundreds of Gallian lives; including everyone in this room, your mothers life… and ultimately yours. You wouldn't have been born if he didn't complete the mission he so bravely gave his life for."

Claudia was speechless. There was obviously more to her father than she ever dreamed.

"You want to disrespect his legacy? Act so uncaringly about his sacrifice? Well… then I dare you to do better… Claudia Mann…" Varrot said, she then turned back to the small rock window and looked out with her hands held together behind her back, David Mann's headband clutched in one of her hands.

"We're done here." Varrot said to everyone, "Get some sleep. We have a tough mission ahead of us, and I want you all rested up for it."

Everyone then shuffled out of the captain's quarters, all of them had their eyes glue to the floor as they went. Just before she left, Claudia looked back at her father's headband, then ran her hand across her bare forehead, and she started to cry. It just didn't feel right to not have it anymore. To not have… her father's headband.


End file.
